Ember to Ember
by Anna Fugazzi
Summary: Sequel to Volunteers, written for the livejournal community hdsbeltane. Main fic complete, DVD Requests complete. Final DVD Extra, February 10, added.
1. May

**Author Notes:** OK, so here's the beginning of a sequel to Volunteers, my fic written for the livejournal community **hdsbeltane**. Trust me, it really won't make much sense if you haven't read Volunteers.

**Author Notes**** for those who already read Volunteers (or who decided to read this fic anyway against my advice):** Volunteers was written pre-DH, and this sequel was started pre-DH, so it's somewhat non-compliant with DH. You can still make it fit if you squint and tilt your head sideways (and pretend the word Epilogue never graced a single dictionary), except for the fact that Fred Weasley is very much alive. Also: JKR said in post-DH interviews that the Malfoys stayed out of Azkaban because they smooth-talked their way out of trouble by pointing out that in the end they actually helped Harry to win. With all due respect to the Scottish lady in whose garden we all play, in my world nobody talks that smoothly.

Thanks millions to **scrtkpr**, for wonderful beta. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Chapter 2 will be heading in your direction soon, I hope.

**ooo000ooo**

_**Date:**__ May 2  
__**From:**__ hjpottergringotts.wz  
__**To:**__ malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
Hi,  
The Ministry wants me to file a report on the festivities; do you want to get together to discuss that?_

**Date:** May 2  
**From:** malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpottergringotts.wz  
Sure, sounds good.

_**Date:**__ May 2  
__**From:**__ hjpottergringotts.wz  
__**To:**__ malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
Is Friday night all right, maybe around 7? Alec would like it if you brought Ben too._

**Date:** May 3  
**From:** malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpottergringotts.wz  
See you then.

**ooo000ooo**  
May 4

"You're going to stay too, Dad?" Ben asked as Draco helped him out of his bath.

"Yes, I'll be there. You'll go play with Alec, and I'll be with Harry."

"What are you going do?"

_'Hopefully, also play,' is not what you want to say out loud._ "Talking about Beltane," Draco said, drying Ben off and avoiding the newest scab on his knee.

"But isn't it over now?"

"Yes, but we have to write a report on it."

"Why?" Ben asked, his voice muffled by the towel Draco was rubbing over his head.

"Well, the Ministry wants to know if everyone behaved all right, if anyone let the Muggles see things they shouldn't."

"Did they?"

"Not much. Most people behaved pretty well. Here's your underwear."

"Did I behave?"

"Yeah, you were good. It would've been better if you'd stayed put when I went to talk to those witches who were trying to use Muggle cameras, but you didn't go very far. Here's your trousers."

"They were pretty funny, weren't they Dad? Imagine getting angry that the pictures didn't move!" Ben giggled as Draco helped him into his trousers. Draco smiled.

"Can I play for a long time?"

"Probably."

"Can we stay for dinner?"

"Erm. I don't know."

Draco pulled Ben's jumper over his head, irate at his own uncertainty and ridiculously jittery nerves. Were they staying for dinner? How long did Harry expect them to visit? And what would they do, once they were done with Beltane? The report excuse was pretty flimsy, seeing as how there really hadn't been anything of note other than an accidentally dropped dungbomb and the stupid witch who'd turned an old Muggle man's cane into a snake. Oh and the incident with the goat that ate a Portkey, which he was sure the Aurors had reported already.

He sighed, only half-listening to Ben's chatter as he finished dressing him, then went to get changed. Like this was a date, instead of a work-related meeting and opportunity for their kids to play together. Not that different from the last few Beltane meetings they'd had, if Draco was honest with himself. He hadn't dressed up, necessarily, but he had taken just a bit more care than usual with his appearance.

Hm...Muggle or wizard clothing? Blue or grey shirt?

"Dad? Can I bring my Gameboy?"

"Ben, remember it's a magical household," he said patiently. "Electronics won't do well there."

"Right," Ben said, disappointed, and turned to put his Gameboy away, wincing as he banged his knee. Draco reached for his wand.

"Come, stand still and I'll fix that for you."

"What if Mam asks how it got better?"

"Your mum didn't see you scrape it," Draco reminded him absently, concentrating on the small scrape and grateful he'd obtained permission to use magic for healing spells; amazing, how many small injuries children got.

Maybe he and Harry could talk about that. Adventures in parenting. How... romantic.

Of course, they might do more than talk. And if they did - unlikely, considering the kids would be there, but possible - what would they do? What did Harry want from him? It had seemed pretty straightforward Beltane night, but now...

Harry had invited him over, Draco reassured himself. Told him to bring Ben. There had been nothing in his e-mails that suggested he was thinking about what had happened Beltane night, but if Harry had regretted their actions in the cold light of day, he wouldn't have suggested getting together for the report, let alone asked Draco to bring Ben along. Right?

Beltane night. Draco sighed, his mind going back to that night, as it had been doing rather obsessively for the last three days.

God, those kisses had been incredible. After thinking about Harry in his arms for so long, the reality had been much better, because reality tasted like Butterbeer - Butterbeer! - and smoke from the Beltane fires, and held the possibility of so much more. Reality tasted like anticipation and pleasure and throwing caution to the wind, reaching for something he wanted, as he hadn't allowed himself to do for so long...

And as much as he'd forced himself to remember that he had responsibilities, that he shouldn't jump to conclusions or imagine a future of any kind, his libido was way, way ahead of him. That night, he'd been just about ready to come, right there in front of the Beltane fires, with Harry's hair spilling over his fingers, the small sound he'd made in his throat, the way he'd moaned... and it was so hard to forget that, so hard to ignore the way his body felt every time he thought of that night. How he'd felt that night, hours later, driving into Dublin exhausted and putting Ben to bed and still unable to go to sleep without taking care of the aftereffects of those embraces. And then he'd still had vivid dreams, both nights after that, and it was just-

Draco blinked, registering that Ben's permachatter had paused and that he was looking at Draco expectantly. "Sorry, what?"

"When will Mam be back?" Ben asked. "Does she know we're going to visit Harry and Alec?"

"Erm, I don't know. You know she went to negotiate that contract in Kerry."

"I want to tell her about Beltane. I want to tell her I'm going to see Alec again. Are you going to date Harry? She wants you to."

Draco sighed. "Ben, this is... a difficult situation. I'd rather not talk to your mum about it yet, OK?"

"Are you dating Harry?"

"I'm not sure."

"How can you not be sure?" Ben frowned, puzzled. "Mam's always sure when she's dating someone."

Yeah, for the entire week it usually lasts, Draco thought to himself, and pushed his glasses up nervously. "It's hard to tell. We're just friends right now."

"Like me and Alec?"

Draco hid a smile. "Sure." Right. "Now go get your shoes and off we go."

Just friends.

Or not. The one thing he was sure of was that he did not want to be just friends with Harry. He wanted... he wanted everything. The whole package, Harry in his bed, in his life, Butterbeer, magic, Kara off his case about finding a steady man, and Ben happy with all of it and miraculously untouched by any controversy.

And he was terrified of the entire package. Discovery. Being rejected. Getting hurt. Ben getting hurt.

Of course what his brain - and other parts - kept focusing on was not safety, or the future, or bad publicity, or whether he could by some miracle actually have some sort of meaningful relationship for once in his life. No, it was sex. A lot of sex. Because with any luck, he might end up _having_ sex, sometime in the foreseeable future. With a wizard. After a distressingly long dry spell, it was too much to hope that he _wouldn't_ be thinking about it all the time, like a pathetic randy teenager instead of a college music professor and father of a five year old boy.

So he was thinking about it, and dreaming about it and waking up with stained sheets. And he kept thinking that this was different from anything he'd experienced before, damn it, so bloody different, because this time it mattered; this time was two years after the last time he'd had a man in his bed, because the physical release he found with Muggles was too empty without some kind of connection.

Of course if he hadn't been a pathetic sap who decided to forego perfectly acceptable Muggle blokes for two years, maybe he wouldn't be so nervous contemplating becoming intimate with somebody he cared about, because that somebody was pretty much a virgin as far as men were concerned, and would probably be looking to Draco to bring some experience to the table, and...

And, sadly, Draco didn't have much experience either. Two bouts of brilliant but somewhat abbreviated frantic sex with Theo Nott before leaving Hogwarts, then five Muggles who'd briefly shared his bed, let him top, given him some rather spectacular blow jobs and taught him to do the same. Never spent the entire night with a lover. Never bottomed.

Harry probably thought Draco knew what he was doing. Sorry, not even close.

That could prove awkward. There was no question of telling Harry, but...

Maybe he should skim through a few of his Wicked Wizard magazines and actually read the articles in there; maybe they could give him some ideas...

**ooo000ooo**

"Hello, Ben - Alec's in the-" Harry began, but Ben had already scurried off to Alec's room, with barely a wave in Harry's direction. Harry and Draco smiled at each other.

"Doesn't waste time," Harry said.

"Doesn't waste a moment," Draco said. Harry looked a bit hesitant, and Draco figured he did too. Because how, exactly, were you supposed to greet somebody with whom you'd developed a cordial working relationship, three days after you'd had your tongue on his tonsils?

Harry drew a little closer - but whatever he was going to say or do was spoiled by Alec running into the front hall.

"Draco look! Look! I'm going to audition for a choir in London!" he yelled, waving a piece of paper at Draco and pulling him towards the living room. Harry looked nonplussed for a moment before he smiled at his son.

"All right, go ahead and tell him," he said good-naturedly. "I'll get the report out," he told Draco, going to the dining room table.

**ooo000ooo**

"So, that should be it, then," Harry said some time later. They'd been at it for about an hour, chatting casually about the events of Beltane in meticulous detail while adroitly avoiding any mention of what had happened at the end of the day. It was nice. Comfortable, mostly. Also a little nerve-racking because Draco kept wondering what he should be doing or not doing, saying or not saying... and now Harry was sealing the report, and putting the report away, and really, there was nothing else to say that wasn't casual.

Harry got up. "I'll go put this away - d'you want tea or something? I've got some stuff from Diagon Alley." He headed for the kitchen and Draco followed him and stood at the doorway for a moment to gather up his courage. He swallowed hard, suddenly quite sure that somehow this had all been a mistake, a misunderstanding, because they were right back to what they'd been before Beltane; polite acquaintances and possibly friends. And the conversation he'd had with Ben - not to mention the thoughts he'd been having lately - seemed terribly presumptuous.

The boys' voices sounded very far away as Draco came closer to Harry. Not sure what he was doing, just knowing that somehow he had to reassure himself that what they had now was not just a tentative friendship, but a continuation of what they'd begun on Beltane night. Startled a bit as Harry jerked slightly, looking up at him with apprehension in his eyes. Draco moved back slightly, barely having time to register his dismay before Harry moved towards him.

"Sorry," Harry murmured, and they both laughed a bit as they bumped into each other. Harry swallowed nervously. "Caught me by surprise, that's all."

Draco moved closer, feigning confidence he didn't feel, and let himself relax as Harry bridged the distance between them and their lips met.

Oh, that was all right, then. He breathed deeply, enjoying the scent of Harry's cologne, some kind of woodsy scent, and drew his hands through Harry's hair. Smiled as Harry cupped his cheek and their tongues met, and it was warm and comfortable and just a bit, erm, stimulating and... who knew how long the boys would be occupied, but maybe they could just keep doing this as long as they were-

"Daddy!"

... bugger.

"Alec lost his Snitch!" Ben cried as the boys raced into the kitchen, and Draco knew _exactly_ how Alec felt.

Draco and Harry moved away from each other and Draco surreptitiously adjusted himself, catching Harry's grin as he saw the gesture and smiled ruefully. He waited patiently, thinking of icicles and cabbage soup and Dolores Umbridge to get rid of the uncomfortable tightness in his pants, as Harry retrieved the toy Snitch, reminded Alec of the rules for playing with it (playroom door closed, thank you very much) and gently led him back down the hall.

It was probably a good thing they'd been interrupted, Draco thought as he waited. They should probably go slowly. Not a problem; he had been celibate for two years, and Harry had been more or less celibate for four and a half years - longer, if his wife had been like most women at the end of her pregnancy - and they could probably wait a little while longer.

Finally the boys were back in the playroom, hopefully occupied for the next little while, and Harry came back to the kitchen with an expression on his face most appropriate for talking to a Healer about an embarrassingly placed boil.

"I, erm, think maybe we should talk about, er, this, before - erm, we should talk."

Draco sighed. "We probably should, yeah. Better now than later." He ran a hand over his hair nervously. Bloody hell, if it wasn't for Ben... he felt annoyed at his son for a moment before bringing himself up short. Bad enough that he was pursuing this insane attraction in the first place; to resent Ben because he had to be careful doing so was ridiculous.

Harry cleared his throat. "You said, at Beltane, that you needed this to be discreet. Is this all right? You and Ben here, nobody else needs to know?"

Draco nodded. "I'd like to see where this goes, but I really can't afford to be out about it. This has to be kept secret, as much as possible. For Ben's sake. I can't make news, and he can't be near me in public too much, or he'll be recognized if I do make news."

Harry frowned. "You didn't mind people seeing you with Alec and Ben at Beltane."

"Ben doesn't look like me, and I was there in a very low-profile position. You know there weren't very many wizards there, and most of them had no idea who I was. Kara was there too, keeping Ben out of trouble for a lot of the day, so I doubt many people even noticed he was there with me."

"Fair enough."

"Have you talked to Alec about being discreet?"

"I didn't need to say much. He's realized it's not a good idea to talk about..." Harry hesitated. "Erm, about you." Draco raised his eyebrows. "There were... things said about you. By the Weasleys. Before Beltane, when they found out I was working with you."

Draco winced. "What did you tell him?"

"I told him we weren't friends at school but that people changed, and I said some people didn't realize you'd changed." Harry looked extremely uncomfortable. "I said some of them had their own reasons for feeling the way they did about you."

"Like Bill Weasley?" Draco guessed.

"Erm, no. He knows we volunteered together, but hasn't said anything about it. I'm not terribly close to him, but we do work together. I don't think it would be fair to just ignore his feelings if we..." he trailed off and looked away. "And it's not just him, either. The Weasleys... they're my family, as much as anybody can be. Ron reminded me of that."

"Of what?"

"That I'm an honorary Weasley for life."

Draco winced again.

"Yeah, I told him that might be reason enough for you to decide not to get involved with me," Harry said with a slight smile.

"I take it he knows?"

"That I'm attracted to you, yeah. So does Hermione." Harry looked like he wanted to say more, then thought better of it.

"What did they think?"

Harry shrugged. "They weren't happy."

"Were you surprised?"

"Well, no. I mean, it would've been nice if they had approved, but it's hardly surprising they didn't."

"D'you think we should be discreet around the boys too? To avoid Alec saying anything he shouldn't to the Weasleys?"

"I don't think there's much point," Harry said wryly. "Remember, they figured this out before we did."

"I did tell Ben that I didn't know if we were dating."

"Oh." Harry blinked. "Erm... well, I'd like us to."

_Merlin_, so would I, Draco thought fervently, firmly squashing down the desire to touch Harry again. Pull him close, breathe in his cologne, taste his lips - he could almost feel the imprint on his body of what they'd been doing when the boys interrupted them, and he wanted so much to - no. _Talk first, grope later_. Hopefully. He forced an even tone on his voice. "Not sure you can really call it dating, if you never go anywhere."

"Never?"

"I'm serious about that. No going out in public, except to Muggle places. I'd also rather not have anything personal in e-mails or owls."

Harry raised his eyebrows.

"It's not paranoia if there really are people watching you," Draco said evenly. "My parole officer has permission to read my mail. He does so, regularly."

"Don't Aurors have some kind of code about what they can and can't reveal?"

"Yes, they do. Many of them also hate the Malfoys. I don't particularly want one of them to forget his professionalism and send a little note to the Prophet."

"But... you are allowed to date, aren't you?"

"Of course. But I'd still rather they not get wind of it. It's not that we're doing anything wrong, and if you were anybody else, I doubt anyone would care. But you? That's a very different story."

He thought for a moment about explaining that twice a year he was obligated to undergo Veritaserum questioning about his activities and to submit a report to his parole officer detailing any significant personal developments in his life... but that wasn't for a few months yet. Who knew whether this would even be an issue then.

He took a deep breath, forced the words out. "You know... this is probably going to be a lot of trouble. It would probably be a lot simpler to just back away." He waited while Harry mulled it over, quashing his own nerves, knowing he really couldn't blame Harry if he chickened out.

"I know what it would be like to _not_ pursue this," Harry said slowly. "I've spent four years not pursuing anything. I didn't die when Ginny did, you know. I've mourned her long enough."

"You could find somebody else."

"I'm not terribly enthused at the prospect, believe it or not. Besides, it's hard to date anybody when you're a single parent."

"You're not serious; there must be hundreds of witches who'd take you and Alec in a heartbeat."

"I won't date a woman again."

"Wizards, then," Draco said impatiently.

"Probably. None I could trust."

"And you trust me?"

"I do," Harry said simply.

"A lot of people wouldn't understand placing any trust in me."

"I'm not a lot of people." Harry cleared his throat and seemed to brace himself again. "And speaking of trust. Erm. I, I told you a bit about that I've never - other than Ginny, I haven't really, erm. I don't have much experience."

Draco nodded.

"That... doesn't bother you?"

"No. I haven't been with anybody for a while, either. What about the two Muggles you were with?"

"Didn't go too far. I didn't even know their names." Harry sighed. "It... it was good. I mean, I knew I wanted to be with a bloke, but I didn't know if - you know, if it would be too different, or what."

"I take it the Weasleys know you're bisexual?"

"Yeah, of course. For years."

"How did it come up?"

Harry chuckled. "Erm, Ginny made some comment about Lance Poffle-"

"The Puddlemere Chaser?"

"Yeah, and I guess I was a bit over-enthusiastic agreeing with her. They all started looking at me funny. Ron made some comment about me fancying Poffle, I mentioned his crush on Viktor Krum, things got a bit tense, then I said something like, 'So what if I do fancy him?' and Ginny said, 'Hermione, you owe me a Galleon.'"

"What?" Draco laughed.

"They'd actually had a bet that I liked to look at other blokes. My best friend and my _girlfriend_. A bit embarrassing, that was." Harry chuckled again and shrugged. "I knew it wouldn't be a big deal to them. Charlie Weasley's gay, out since second year; nobody cares."

"Wasn't he Gryffindor Quidditch Captain?"

"Oh yeah, nice lean Seeker's build, too," Harry grinned. "That fueled a few fantasies, believe me, when I met him."

"I bet."

"Hermione really approved of how the wizarding world seemed a lot more blasé about that kind of thing than the Muggle world."

"I can imagine," Draco said grimly.

"Bit of a shock to you when you came to live here?"

"Bit of an understatement. The tizzy these people get into based on whose pants you want to get into. It's baffling."

"Yeah, I remember my cousin used to tease me by implying all sorts of things. Once I'd found out the wizarding world couldn't be arsed to care, I just found it amusing."

Draco chuckled. "Wish I could've seen it that way. Not that it's that big a deal at the college, or with most of the people I spend time with. But Kara's family - her father, actually - are incredibly unpleasant."

"Really?"

Draco shrugged. "I'm used to it. It's just a matter of being discreet."

"I suppose so. Like being in the wizarding world?

"Pretty much."

Harry hesitated, then spoke in a rush. "What if you do come back to the wizarding world? For real, and not just for Beltane?"

Silence.

"Do you want to?"

Draco hesitated. "Yeah," he said reluctantly. "Ben really wants to as well. I was thinking of getting to know some of the local wizards. At Brigid's Cross - that's Dublin's Diagon Alley-"

"Yeah, I've been there. Nice shops."

"And then once I know them a bit better, maybe bring Ben in. That way people will get to know him. I haven't really worked out all the logistics yet, but publicity can't be part of it. And," he gazed steadily at Harry, "you can't be part of that. Not publicly. You know what somebody like Rita Skeeter would do with this story. The Boy Who Lived and a Death Eater? It would be front page."

"I know."

"I don't want Ben to find out like that. I suppose I'm looking to keep him safe as long as possible."

"Well what if we put a glamour on you or something, if we're out somewhere-"

"We can't," Draco interrupted.

"What?"

"I can't. I can't hide who I am, I can't hide my Dark Mark, or change my name, or move away, or anything like that. You can, and so can Ben, but one condition of my parole is that I live with my name and face and Mark forever. On the British Isles. Nothing I can do about it."

"That's... that'll put a strain on things when Ben's older. If he gets in Hogwarts."

"I know."

"D'you think he will?"

Draco shrugged. "He's got some magic. Don't know just how much yet, unfortunately. He's made a few things move, made a few lights pop when he was angry. And Kara gets a bit suspicious by how well he can find things sometimes."

Harry smiled slightly. "Yeah, Alec's done some things like that. It's nice, though. I'm so glad he can do all of that without being punished for it."

Draco frowned, wondering who on earth would think to punish a child for magic. Harry's expression didn't invite questioning, though, and he moved on. "You know, it's odd, I'd never really thought about the logistics of having a half-blood child, especially one raised by a Muggle mother with no idea of magic. I've no idea what I thought Muggle-born children did. It's been eye-opening, to say the least," he said dryly. "I feel like I'm flying blind half the time."

"You know, you can't be unique in this. There's got to be other parents of half-blood children who could help you figure some of this out."

"I don't know any."

"Well Hermione's got some experience growing up in a non-magical house. Of course she didn't have to hide it, but she's done a lot of work with half-blood and Muggle-born kids. She might..."

Draco kept his face blank, searching for a polite way to say _Are you completely mental_, but none presented itself.

Harry cleared his throat. "Or not."

"Erm, probably not."

"Yeah, she's a bit busy with the baby."

"Yeah."

Harry put a hand on his arm. "If this works, though... you know you'll come into contact with her. With her whole family." Draco looked away uncomfortably, acutely aware of Harry's hand on his arm. Harry paused for a moment, then quietly said, "Do you think, since this is sort of a date, that anything more than talking would be appropriate?"

They slowly drew together again, and Draco smiled. This felt better. Much better. He kissed Harry deeply, smiling as Harry moaned and immediately flushed.

"Sorry. 'Sbeen a while," Harry murmured, a bit embarrassed.

"What, since Wednesday?" Draco teased.

Harry rolled his eyes. "This is new for me, all right?"

"I know. For me too," Draco said, and leaned in again. Oh, Merlin, that felt good. So bloody good, and it was just horrible that the kids were right down the hall, liable to interrupt at the most inopportune moment, because right now what he wanted more than anything was to run his hands through Harry's hair and do something, anything, other than simply kiss.

"Mm," Harry moaned, pulling him closer, and they gave themselves over to their impulses, Harry's heart beating fast against Draco's just as it had the other night. Harry's fingers caressing Draco's face, his lips teasing, tongue slipping into Draco's mouth, and Draco shivered with pleasure. He choked back a cry as Harry moved to the side of his neck and did something with his tongue that sent sparks through Draco and made him tighten his hold on Harry's shoulders. And he would've felt embarrassed at how quickly he got hard from just a little tongue, except he was much too hard to feel embarrassed. He groaned, fingers skittering over Harry's back, body pressing against him, wanting as much contact as possible - Harry was hard too, they pressed together, Draco's back digging into the counter behind him, Harry's thigh between his own, impossibly warm, he was aching to undo Harry's clothes-

Bloody hell, he'd better think of something unarousing to bring things down a bit or before he knew it he'd be trying to bend Harry over the counter.

_He's a step away from bending you over the nearest rock and taking you without lube,_ Kara had said at Beltane, and that image was certainly not helpful.

"Dad!" Ben yelled breathlessly, and Draco and Harry broke apart hastily as he ran into the kitchen. "Alec says that he's done some magic before! Can he do it now?"

Draco contemplated hitting his head against the wall in frustration at the sudden distance between himself and Harry, and startled a bit as Harry put a hand on his arm before turning to Ben. Harry was flushed, and his chest was heaving slightly, but his voice was remarkably steady.

"He can't just do it whenever he wants, Ben. Most people can't control their magic until they're a bit older."

Alec had followed Ben into the kitchen. "I told you," he said. "Daddy's got a friend who even thought he was a Squib for the longest time."

"Longbottom?" Draco asked. He realized Harry's hand was trembling a bit and covered it with his own, squeezing it slightly.

"How did you guess?"

"I have a talent for spotting the shockingly obvious."

Harry chuckled.

"What's a Squib?" asked Ben.

"It's somebody who doesn't have magic. Even though their family's wizards." Alec cocked his head to the side, gazing at Harry and Draco. "Were you kissing?" he asked curiously.

Draco abruptly felt sorry for Kara and her many girlfriends and reminded himself of what she had said many times: at some glorious age, children stopped being innocently curious about public displays of adult affection and became intensely embarrassed at the mere thought, avoiding it if at all possible. Draco would've cheerfully killed for a spell to bring the boys to that stage of development _right now_.

"Yes, we were," Harry said, his tone casual despite the almost maroon flush on his skin. "Would you mind going back to your room, so we can continue?"

"OK. Let's go back to the Snitch," Alec said, and the boys ran back out.

Harry took a deep breath. "I think maybe we should actually get that tea I mentioned. And sit down. On, erm, opposite sides of the table."

Draco laughed shakily. "Good idea."

Harry turned to the cupboard, taking out a carton of tea. "I don't suppose you'd be up for trying this again some day when the boys are at someone else's house? Or maybe just heavily sedated?"

Draco chuckled. "Yeah, I can probably be talked into that." They exchanged a wry grin and settled down to tea.


	2. June

**Author Notes:** Thanks millions to **scrtkpr**, for wonderful beta. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

And also: wheee! I wasn't expecting much of a turnout for this sequel, so I'm totally tickled that y'all seem to like it! Thanks!

**oooOOOooo**

_**Date:**__ May 8  
__**From:**__ hjpottergringotts.wz  
__**To:**__ malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
Alec would like to invite Ben over this weekend.  
By the way I sent in our report to the Ministry. They were impressed, and want to know if we'd like to volunteer next year too._

**Date:** May 8  
**From:** malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpottergringotts.wz  
This weekend sounds good. Saturday afternoon?  
Do they want a firm answer re. volunteering? It's not until next year.

_**Date:**__ May 9  
__**From:**__ hjpottergringotts.wz  
__**To:**__ malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
Saturday afternoon is good. No, they don't need a firm answer. I think they're just curious. _

_**Date:**__ May 14  
__**From:**__ hjpottergringotts.wz  
__**To:**__ malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
Ben left his Pokemon cards here on Saturday. Should I send them by Owl?  
Did you get the Liaison Office survey?_

**Date:** May 14  
**From:** malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpottergringotts.wz  
I'd rather not use Owl post; confuses the Muggles. Ben would probably prefer it if Alec brought the cards over himself. We've got a concert Saturday; would Sunday work?  
I got the survey. Do they put Cheering Charms on the parchment?

_**Date:**__ May 15  
__**From:**__ hjpottergringotts.wz  
__**To:**__ malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
Sunday's good. The survey was remarkably peppy, wasn't it?_

**Date:** May 16  
**From:** malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpottergringotts.wz  
I can't be sure but I think it chirped at me.

_**Date:**__ May 21  
__**From:**__ hjpottergringotts.wz  
__**To:**__ malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
Alec told me he invited Ben over next weekend, but unfortunately he'll be at the Burrow overnight Saturday for a birthday party. This is probably why four-year-olds are hardly ever hired as social conveners. _

_**Date:**__ May 23  
__**From:**__ hjpottergringotts.wz  
__**To:**__ malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
Birthday girl has dragonpox. Party postponed._

**Date:** May 23  
**From:** malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpottergringotts.wz  
Dragonpox? That's rather dangerous if you don't catch it right away. Ben's in Limerick with Kara. Next weekend, Friday?

_**Date:**__ June 3  
__**From:**__ hjpottergringotts.wz  
__**To:**__ malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
Next weekend is a bust, I'm buried in work._

**Date:** June 4  
**From:** malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpottergringotts.wz  
I've got three extra rehearsals then anyway. And Kara's away too.  
Buried in work?

_**Date:**__ June 5  
__**From:**__ hjpottergringotts.wz  
__**To:**__ malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
Security troll hexed with a nasal congestion curse. Don't ask. Next weekend, the 15th?_

**Date:** June 10  
**From:** malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpottergringotts.wz  
Sorry, playdate's off. Ben's with Kara this weekend.

_**Date:**__ June 11  
__**From:**__ hjpottergringotts.wz  
__**To:**__ malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
Just as well; Alec's finally going to the sleepover._

**Date:** June 12  
**From:** malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpottergringotts.wz  
Too bad. Maybe next weekend. Hope Alec enjoys himself.

**oooOOOooo  
June 15**

Harry swore volubly in Gobbledegook as his quill blotted ink across yet another parchment. He bit his lip, then remembered there was no reason not to swear if he wanted to. No curious little ears would hear him; no curious little voice would ask, "What's that mean, Daddy?"

He rubbed his forehead distractedly, wondering for the fiftieth time this week why the hell he was still working with goblins. Most of the time the job was interesting and challenging, and he very much enjoyed doing work that used his brain after a childhood spent mostly relying on his guts and instinct. But some weeks, like this one...

It had been Minor Disaster Month at the London branch of Gringott's. The nasal-cursed troll had been the least of their worries, and _Merlin_ the meetings they'd suffered through. Mostly held by a goblin pair who were like an unholy cross between Binns at his most pedantic and Snape at his most sarcastic. Sninns and Bape, he and Bill called them under their breaths. Harry had taken great comfort reminding himself time and again that he and Alec did not, strictly speaking, _need_ the income he earned from Gringott's.

Happily, the fires seemed to have finally died down, and he was almost done catching up on the week's regular work. All he had to do was figure out a simple curse to set on this stupid goblet - always goblets, because of course why _wouldn't_ one want to turn drinking implements into lethal objects - but he was having a bit of a time trying to concentrate.

And why would that be? He glanced at the clock. Almost time for Draco to show up. He looked back at the goblet, said the incantation under his breath to practice it, and promptly dropped the goblet as it started to shriek. Damn, it was supposed to glow, not scream. More Gobbledegook swearing, followed by _Silencio_.

He glanced back at the clock. All right. Best put the goblet away before he accidentally melted it. He was in no shape for rational thinking.

He was slowly going insane, was the problem, with the glacial pace he and Draco were taking in this odd relationship they'd embarked upon. It had been a wonderful but incredibly frustrating few weeks, because they couldn't go out anywhere, and their kids were always underfoot, frequently interrupting them with their curious questions and little-boy-crises and occasional spats. Including actual fights, which neither Harry nor Draco had much experience dealing with, what with both having been only children. Well... Harry had been raised with a pseudo-sibling, but all his sibling rivalry with Dudley had involved Dudley beating the shit out of him with his parents' enthusiastic support. Harry didn't particularly want to duplicate that kind of dynamic in his own son's life.

So it had been a slow burn of frustrated decorum and embraces that never went far enough to satisfy Harry. The farthest they'd gone was some heavy petting and a couple of very quick hand jobs. And one memorable occasion when Ben was at Kara's and Alec was asleep, and Draco had gone down on Harry and had reduced him to a quivering wreck with his skill and enthusiasm and apparent absence of any gag reflex.

"That was..." Harry had panted as he finished shuddering, hanging on to the kitchen counter for dear life, Draco still on his knees, looking up at him with a very satisfied expression on his face. "Oh, God, that was... that was-"

"Daddy!"

Harry had almost literally jumped out of his skin at the wail from down the hall, and contemplated for the first time Stupefying his son. Instead he'd hastily buttoned up his trousers and hurried to Alec's bedroom to deal with a nightmare. By the time he'd come back to the kitchen, Draco was sitting at the table with a fresh pot of tea and a rueful smile on his face.

"Just be grateful he wasn't sleepwalking," he'd said, and snickered at Harry's shudder.

And it wasn't just the lack of opportunity to get physical; the constant need for discretion with the outside world was wearying as well. The near code-like nature of their e-mails, maintaining a façade of casual acquaintanceship for the sake of their children's friendship, was getting tiresome.

Harry put the goblet away and wiped his hands on his trousers. Alec was at the Burrow tonight, Ben was with Kara, and he and Draco were going to be here all alone, and then... who knew what would happen?

He glanced at a picture of Ginny on the wall, wondering what she would have thought of him moving on like this. She would've wanted him to find love and companionship, he knew, for himself and for their child, not stayed numb and alone for the rest of his life. That's what he would've wanted her to do, had he died instead. But would he have cared if she'd found that with someone he'd hated? Somebody like Draco?

All right, not Draco, who had almost no interest in the female gender. Someone else. Someone who couldn't even fill in the role of the parental gender Alec was supposedly missing.

Pansy Parkinson?

He shuddered. Ugh. Pug-nose Parkinson, near his child. Sleeping with his wife. Many men found the thought of their wife with another woman intriguing, but the image of Ginny snogging Parkinson was rather... _augh_. He sent a heartfelt apology to Ginny's memory for coming up with that mental image.

The clock had never moved so slowly, and Draco's penchant for lateness had never been so irritating. And the worst part was that he wasn't that late after all, it was only five past - and there was the doorbell.

He hurried to the door, and there was Draco, shaking soot from his hair and blowing ash from his glasses with a faint expression of distaste. Harry chuckled and took them from him, murmured "Verriclari" and handed them back to Draco sparkling clean, not a trace of ash.

"Haven't heard that one," Draco said, putting them back on and blinking at the sudden clarity of the front hall.

"Really? Dead useful spell. Hermione taught it to me."

"I'll have to remember it," Draco said, shaking the last bit of ash from his cloak.

"Weren't you given a list of glasses-spells when you got them?"

"I got them six years ago," Draco said, hanging up his cloak. "From a Muggle optometrist. Never learned any of the spells."

Harry nodded, glad he was slowly getting used to not blushing or feeling uncomfortable every time Draco's exile came up. "Can't you get your eyes fixed?" he asked, leading them into the living room.

"Nobody in the wizarding world I'd really trust pointing a wand at my eyes. Besides, I don't mind the glasses."

"I like the look on you," Harry said, smiling.

"Me too," Draco said wryly as they sat down, and Harry nodded. He could certainly see why - they changed his appearance quite markedly, made him look a bit less conspicuous among wizards, and his parole officer couldn't exactly object.

"So Alec's with the Weasleys then?" Draco asked.

"Yeah, for his cousin's birthday. Along with nine other cousins. The only one not attending is Ron and Hermione's youngest."

"He's still at the hospital?"

Harry smiled. "Joshua? No, actually. He was three months premature, but the hospital finally cleared him, so he's been back home for the last three days. Still needs a lot of care, though."

"All babies do."

"Yeah. If Joshua's anything like Alec at that age..." Harry shook his head. "I don't envy them the sleepless nights."

Draco grimaced. "Nor do I. That was a bit of a nasty shock, the first few times I had Ben overnight."

"Yeah, it's not easy. And I had house elves and all of the Weasleys helping me with Alec; I don't know how Muggles manage it."

"I do. For the first few months, I couldn't do magic at all. Had to walk up and down the hallway with him at all hours of the night, not stop my ears, not cast a muffling charm on him..."

Harry smiled a bit at the image. "They wouldn't let you do magic even for that?"

"No," Draco said shortly.

"Did you ask?"

"I wasn't going to, but after three weeks of colic, I did. They said no."

"Why?"

Draco shrugged. "I did the crime, I did the time."

Harry looked away. "Sorry," he said quietly, and changed the subject. "So, erm, Ben's with Kara tonight?"

"Yeah, all week. With Kara and her newest lifelong love. This one's a professional ventriloquist. Calls herself a Neo-Comminist and dabbles in particle physics, Scientolophy, and macramé."

"What?"

"Don't ask me, I've no idea what any of that means, except for the macramé. And somehow I don't think Muggles use knotted unicorn hair like my mother used to."

Harry chuckled, but his nervous anticipation was quickly becoming tinged with frustration. He had to confess he hadn't really thought of what to do with Draco when he got here - far too busy imagining them naked to plan out how they would get to that blissful cloth-free state - but this casual small talk, sitting close but not too close on the couch, was starting to get annoying. And he had no idea how they might get past it and go on to what he'd been thinking about non-stop for the last several days. It wasn't like they were women who needed time to get romantic...

Honestly, he'd expected Draco to be a tad more predatory.

All right, then. He'd have to take the lead. He shifted a bit closer and Draco's eyes widened slightly, and Harry could swear he could see Draco's pupils dilating. Oh yes. To hell with small talk.

"I've been." Harry swallowed and pushed on. "I was going to ask you if wanted tea. Or Firewhisky or a treacle tart, or something. But I don't particularly want to get you any of that, not right now." He marveled that somehow his voice didn't sound desperate and shaking from need, but low and almost seductive. Draco's pupils had dilated till his eyes looked almost black, and he licked his lips nervously, swallowing hard as Harry touched his arm and shifted closer.

"No? What would you rather do?"

Harry grinned in answer and got a mouthful of Draco as a reply.

Bloody hell, was _that_ all it took? Harry's felt a moment's annoyance at himself but couldn't hold on to it as they moved with lightning speed from hesitation and nervousness to heated snogging. Fleetingly he considered that it might be nice if tonight featured slow, romantic seduction, but suspected it would be a bit of a crashing failure if they tried. He wanted this too much, had been thinking about it and wanting it for too long.

They were finally together, with no thought of their boys, or their families, or their pasts, or anything other than want and need that went so deep Harry sometimes thought he'd scream.

They pressed together on the couch, no time for anything soft or nervous. The time for that was long past. This was heated and frantic, and Harry gasped as Draco's lips worked their way up his neck. Draco pushed him onto his back so he ended up half-reclining against the corner of the couch, his legs slightly parted so that they could thrust against each other, the way he'd been longing to do for so bloody long it was pitiful. Thank _God_ for the senior Weasleys.

Draco was opening Harry's trousers, reaching in, and he was doing the same to Draco, going from knife-edge desire and nerves to exhilaration in seconds. From arousal to near-climax in seconds. Draco was nibbling on his earlobe, and that felt so _bloody_ amazing. He grasped Draco harder, felt him jolt and cry out, pushing into Harry's hand and resting his head on Harry's shoulder, lower lip between his teeth, eyes closed, brow furrowed in concentration. He pushed up into Harry's fist again, losing the rhythm, becoming nothing but urgent need and God, he was so _fucking_ hot like this. Harry groaned as Draco pressed their bodies together, gripping him hard, melting him from the inside out.

Yes, yes, yes, his mind was chanting, and it was just sensory overload, the thrusting and the gasps and heat and Draco's low-key cologne and the clean smell of his hair and sweat and-

They cried out, reaching climax at almost the same time. He panted into Draco's neck, his heart racing, shaking in the aftermath. He had a vivid memory of the first time they'd done anything together, Beltane night almost two months ago, when he'd wanted nothing more than to thrust against Draco. And now he'd finally done it and it'd been a hell of a lot better than he'd imagined it could be. There was definitely something to be said for privacy with no fear of interruptions.

Draco's arms had gone around him and he was holding Harry close, breathing in the scent of his hair, mouth ghosting over his neck, then slowly drawing back, a suddenly shy expression on his face.

Harry dropped his own eyes. Those last kisses had felt so... intimate. He shook his head. How could a mere feathery touch of Draco's lips feel so much more intimate than what they'd just done?

Draco slowly drew back, and Harry murmured a cleaning spell on them both. Draco smiled as they buttoned up again. "Well. That was... direct," he said, and Harry grinned back at him.

"After how many weeks, finally having a flat to ourselves? Sorry, I'm not that patient."

"No, thank Merlin," Draco laughed, and stretched languidly, grinning at Harry.

Harry stretched as well, nerves singing with afterglow, and cleared his throat. "I'll, erm, get you that tea or Firewhisky or treacle tart now, if you want it," he said. Draco laughed again, running a hand over his hair and drawing Harry in for another, much slower, kiss, then stood up and pulled Harry up with him.

"Firewhisky sounds good," he said, and they headed for the kitchen.

"So Alec's with your parents-in-law for the whole night?" Draco asked.

"Yeah. Alec and nine cousins, including the birthday girl. They do this about once a month, for almost every single grandchild's birthday."

"That's generous of them."

"They love it," said Harry, pouring them each a glass and leading them back out to the living room. "They're very hands-on grandparents. Alec spends a lot of time with them."

"Must be nice."

"It is, yeah."

They sat down, close but not touching, and Harry felt the distance between them rather uncomfortably, not sure what to do about it. Wasn't it just minutes ago that they were groping each other on this same couch? He cleared his throat. "Does Ben spend any time with his grandparents?"

"I assume you mean Kara's parents," Draco said dryly. "No. Pretty much just Christmas and birthdays. Kara's got a sister too, though they're not terribly close. Her family - well, her father, really - doesn't approve of Ben. Or me."

"Why not?"

"He's got some issues with Kara's sexuality - and mine - and her religion, and whites in general. Not the friendliest bloke on the planet. He's all right with Ben, but not terribly affectionate. Kara doesn't bother visiting much."

"Have you met him?"

"Yeah, when Ben was born. I was at the hospital for a visit and in he came. Had a rod up his arse roughly the size of Cornwall. Really lovely chap."

"That's too bad." There was a pause as they both sipped their Firewhisky. Finally, Harry asked hesitantly, "What do your parents think of Ben?"

Draco's eyebrows went up. "My parents? They don't know about him."

Harry blinked. "What do you mean, they don't know about him? You are allowed to write to them, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"Why wouldn't you tell them?"

Draco pressed his lips together. "Look, my parents are not a good topic," he said tersely, moving away from Harry slightly.

"I'm sorry," Harry said immediately, kicking himself for prying.

Draco sighed, lifted his glasses, and rubbed the bridge of his nose before taking a deep breath. "I... have no contact with my parents," he said quietly. "I've permission to write to them, and although they're not allowed anything in their cells most of the time, they are allowed to answer letters. I wrote them three letters after I was released; they never answered any of them, I don't know why, so I stopped writing. Ben came along a few years after the last letter I wrote."

Harry nodded. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," Draco said. "Besides, I very much doubt they'd approve of Ben. In the old days, my father might have seen him as an asset - you know, showing we Malfoys aren't prejudiced against half-bloods, passing around pictures of him, then bundling him off somewhere as soon as he'd rehabilitated the family enough that I could marry and get a proper pureblood heir." He paused. "As the Malfoy family is effectively dead now, I doubt he'd see Ben as anything more than another symbol of how far we fell. So my son doesn't really have grandparents. Which is good, because in all likelihood the one thing they'd all be able to agree on is that they're ashamed of him." Draco shrugged. "C'est la vie."

Harry nodded. "He's got you and Kara, though. You both love him. That's all a child really needs. The rest is nice, but not necessary."

"You think so?"

"That's all I would've wanted at that age," Harry said bitterly, and Draco cocked his head to the side curiously. "Never mind, grim story. I just know kids need at least one person who cares about them, whether they're parents or grandparents or even godparents. That's one thing I swore, after Ginny died. I couldn't give Alec a mum, but he's got me and he's got family, lots of it. Plenty of people who love him, so he won't grow up feeling he missed something important."

"Ben's just got me and Kara. And Kara's friends - a lot of them. As well as a never-ending string of Kara's 'serious' girlfriends. And she has the nerve to tell me to find someone to settle down with."

There was a brief silence as the words "settle down with" floated uncomfortably between them, and Harry could almost sense Draco's discomfort at having said them.

"Has Ben ever asked about your parents?" Harry asked, tactfully changing the subject.

"He thought they were dead, actually. I found out right before Beltane. He said he just figured they were dead, since I never talk about them." Draco shrugged. "That probably says a lot right there."

"What did you tell him?"

"I told him I'd have to talk to him about them when he was a little older," Draco said quietly, looking away.

Harry drew a bit closer, hesitantly putting a hand on Draco's shoulder. He meant it as mere comfort, and was startled at the thrill that ran through him at the touch, and at the answering gleam in Draco's eyes. Bit of a shock, that, so soon after coming, but he wasn't about to complain. Draco put down his drink and drew nearer. They leaned into a kiss, and Harry semi-blindly put his own drink down. As they quickly became engrossed in one another again Harry stood, pulling Draco with him to his bedroom, grinning at the surprised, pleased expression on Draco's face. Fired up by the way Draco kissed him passionately as they stumbled to the bedroom and almost fell onto the bed together.

Draco drew back a bit, slowed down his caresses, obviously trying to go slow and gentle, probably out of consideration for Harry's lack of experience or the fact that he hadn't been with anybody since his wife died...

Harry didn't want gentle. He didn't want tender and slow and sweet, not this time; this time he wanted force and power and fucking, wanted to forget he was a tragic too-young widower who needed compassion and tenderness, and just take this wherever it led them, quickly, before he burned up.

"I don't want slow," he said urgently, starting to unbutton Draco's shirt. "I want you now."

"But-"

"I don't care if you hurt me."

"I-I've not-"

"You have done this before, right?" Harry asked, impatiently. "Get on with it, then."

Draco was staring at him, somewhat nonplussed, and Harry decided he didn't much care for that look. He pulled him in for an embrace, kissing him hard, needing Draco to feel his desire, his urgency. He pushed Draco back against the bed, latching on to his mouth and covering him, and noted with satisfaction Draco's surprised hiss and the distinct hardness through his trousers.

"But-"

"D'you want to or not?" Harry asked.

Draco laughed. "Do you really have to ask?"

"I've been thinking about this all day," Harry said breathlessly, undoing his own shirt buttons. "I-I couldn't concentrate at work, the bloody goblins were making me mental..."

"Been a long day for me too," Draco admitted, getting into it, _finally_, reaching down to Harry's belt a split second after Harry reached Draco's, tugging it open, undoing their zips, and Harry gasped as they grasped each other firmly. Draco shrugged out of his shirt and Harry pulled him closer, reveling in the thrill of caressing so much bare skin, and finding that keeping his eyes away from Draco's Dark Mark wasn't nearly as difficult as he'd feared it would be.

"We've got all night, I know," Harry said. "But I don't want to wait all night. It's been so fucking long..."

Draco nodded hurriedly as they finished stripping and pressed against each other. Harry moaned as they finally touched fully naked, limbs entwining and mouths coming together hungrily.

This was something dreams couldn't do, simulate this intense heat between two people, and Harry groaned as they thrust against each other. He brought a hand between them, touching Draco and feeling him gasp.

"Wait, wait," Harry said breathlessly, drawing back. "No, it feels amazing, but it'll be over in a second if you keep doing that and I want-" he stopped for breath. No, no time for dignity. Draco knew he'd been deprived for a while. "I just want you inside me. Now."

"Are you sure?" Draco asked, his chest heaving. "I don't want to hurt you-"

"You won't, and even if you do I don't care," Harry said impatiently, handing Draco the lube.

Draco caught his breath, nodded, and pushed Harry back onto the bed. Harry gasped as Draco started slicking the lube onto him.

"Are you all right-"

"Don't stop," Harry said quickly. "Don't worry, I've done it to myself loads of times, it's just that-" _I've never had anybody else do it_, he thought, but didn't say, because just then Draco found that spot inside him, and it was a miracle he didn't come instantly. He groaned helplessly as Draco kept stroking, and lights went off behind his closed eyelids. He reached down hastily. "Stop, I'm too close."

Draco moved up next to him, taking him into his arms. "How d'you want to do this?"

Harry opened his eyes, having a bit of difficulty meeting Draco's heated gaze. "I don't know..." he admitted, feeling unaccountably shy, considering what Draco had just been doing to him.

"On your side is probably a good idea - I mean, since you haven't-"

"Right." Harry turned onto his side and took a deep breath as Draco moved into place behind him. Draco made a questioning sound and Harry nodded, wordlessly giving him permission to proceed and barely suppressing a yelp as Draco slowly started to push into him.

Fuck, that hurt. He bit his lip, nodding tightly as Draco made a questioning sound, breathing deeply and forcing himself to relax, pushing back onto Draco until they were spooned together.

_Fuck_ that hurt. He breathed shallowly, trying to reach past the pain. Draco was going as slowly as Harry would allow him to go, but Harry wanted everything, and he wanted it now, and he couldn't wait for his body to catch up.

"Are you all right?" Draco asked, his voice trembling slightly.

"Yeah," Harry gasped.

"Hurt?"

"Burns a bit," he bit out. "Doesn't matter."

"Harry-"

"Doesn't matter," he repeated firmly, eyes still closed and not wanting to speak more than strictly necessary. "Move, please."

Draco moved. Harry caught his breath as the pain flared more strongly, his whole body on fire, and it didn't matter, because he wanted to not be able to feel anything but this. If it hurt, that was perfectly fine. He'd take pain over numbness any day.

Draco was breathing heavily and shaking, and Harry squeezed his hand. "Let go. Don't worry about me."

"I-I don't want it to be over too soon-"

"Shh," Harry said, amused that he was soothing Draco despite the fact that it was Draco who was making him feel like he was being split apart. "Let go. I want to feel you. I want you to come."

And then Draco was moving more quickly, and the burn was accompanied by sparks of pleasure as Draco hit that magical spot inside him again and Harry took himself in hand, hardening fully again. Moving with Draco as Draco sped up and gasped behind him. And it felt brilliant, but he quickly became irate at the awkwardness of the position.

"No, I can't control this if-" Draco started to say as Harry maneuvered them so that he was on his stomach with Draco on top of him.

"I don't want you to control it," Harry said shortly, smiling as Draco shivered and thrust again.

"Oh, Merlin, I'm going to-"

"I know - me too," Harry gasped, and amazingly enough it was true, despite the lingering pain. This felt bloody fantastic, and he was-

His muscles tightened as he came, crying out, his climax triggering Draco's.

They lay panting together, and Harry didn't realize how tightly he was clenching Draco's hand until his own began to hurt.

"Are you all right?" Draco asked, gently disengaging from Harry, his lips moving softly over the back of Harry's neck.

"Yeah. God, yeah," he said quietly.

"I hurt you," Draco said hesitantly.

"I don't care." Harry turned around in Draco's arms, kissed him fiercely. "I didn't want you to be gentle. I wanted what you gave me." He felt an unexpected lump in his throat and turned away.

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah, fine. You?"

"You took me by surprise, a bit," Draco admitted, sounding nervous.

"Yeah. Sorry." He kissed Draco deeply, trying to ride out the overwhelming emotions. The post-sex buzz, the sense of relief and gratitude, the way he felt like shouting for joy as Draco returned his kiss with equal fervor, and the feeling of...

What was it? It didn't go into words. Sorrow, maybe. Sorrow at having taken a final step away from Ginny. The only person he'd ever had sex with, the only person he'd thought he would ever have sex with... wasn't the only one any more.

He had no idea if Ginny would've approved of what they'd just done - rather suspected she wouldn't have - but it didn't matter. He pulled Draco close and blinked away the tears, hoping Draco hadn't seen them.

"That was perfect. Really." He kissed Draco again, glanced at the clock and smirked. "And look, it's only nine o'clock. Whatever shall we do with the rest of the night?"

**oooOOOooo**

BTW: Gobbledegook, in case anybody's wondering, is the language of goblins. I know swear words in half a dozen languages I don't otherwise speak; I figure Harry might be the same :)


	3. July

Hey look! Chapter 3! We're now up to July of Ember to Ember, the sequel to Volunteers (fic written for **hdsbeltane**). As always, suggestions will be gratefully received.

Thanks so much **scrtkpr**. You rock absolutely.

**oooOOOooo**

**Date:** June 16  
**From:** malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpottergringotts.wz  
Is Alec back from the sleepover? Ben was asking about him, seeing if he had a good weekend.

_**Date:**_ _June 16  
__**From:**__ hjpottergringotts.wz  
__**To:**__ malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
Alec had a great weekend. Lots of playing. How's Ben?_

**Date:** June 16  
**From:** malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpottergringotts.wz  
Also had a good weekend.

**Date:** June 20  
**From:** malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpottergringotts.wz  
Ben hasn't seen his mum in a while so he's with her this weekend.

_**Date:**_ _June21  
__**From:**__ hjpottergringotts.wz  
__**To:**__ malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
Too bad. Next weekend, then?_

_**Date:**_ _July 10  
__**From:**__ hjpottergringotts.wz  
__**To:**__ malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
Another birthday this weekend, for Fred's son. I'll be there for the party, and Alec will be staying the night._

**Date:** July 11  
**From:** malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpottergringotts.wz  
Ben's with Kara this weekend anyway. Have fun at the party.

**oooOOOooo**

**July 14**

"No, it was _last_ month that was insane," Harry laughed, and nodded thanks to Ron as Ron distributed five ice-cold Butterbeers around.

"Didn't you lose a security troll?" Fred asked, leaning against the wall behind the Burrow and taking a bottle from Ron.

"Two!" said Harry. "One cursed with nasal congestion-"

"Don't ask," Bill said quickly, grimacing. "The other with hyper-psoriasis."

"And two vaults burned to a crisp," Harry said. "Both of them belonged to descendants of this old codger who died in 1827."

"Descendants?" Ron asked, and uncorked his bottle. Merlin, what a miserably hot day. He glanced back at the blissfully cool house, where most of the adults were gathered, and wondered once more why the five of them had volunteered to stay out here and watch the kids.

"As near as we could figure, one of his business rivals cast a curse on his seventh-generation descendants," Harry answered him. "You know, standard, 'And thence shall your heirs reap the Vengeance of Flaming Galleons,' so the moment this poor woman gave birth to the seventh generation, these two vaults just burst into flames!"

"We were lucky one of the vault-owners and the new mum had the same last name," Bill added, "or we'd never have figured it out. None of them knew each other."

"And thanks, by the way," Harry said to George.

"The c-counter-curse worked?"

"Yeah - and in case Bill didn't say this already, we don't really want to know how you knew that one off the top of your head."

George smirked and took a pull of Butterbeer.

"Hell-Money Curse?" Fred asked. George grinned and nodded.

"Oh and Fred knows it too. What a shock," Bill said sourly, and Ron and the others laughed. "Anyway, we weren't even done the paperwork on that one when we discovered a defaulting client had set a really imaginative curse on his personal hoard so the goblins couldn't collect."

"Regular day at the office, then," said Ron.

"Well that's what our newest curse-breaker thought," said Harry.

"It's her first month," Bill said. "Literally right out of Hogwarts, and she goes into the vault and nearly disembowels herself and an old security troll."

"Bad month for Gringott's trolls," Ron observed.

"So we go in," Harry said, "and realize the fastest way through is to use this magical goblet that was goblin-made but wizard-owned-"

"-which is _always_ a pleasure-" Bill put in. "We didn't try too hard to get the goblet, so the job took an three extra weeks and umpteen reports to explain. Ugh."

"You know, it's funny," Harry said. "I remember you told me once that you had goblin friends, and then you laughed and said something like, 'As far as any wizard can claim to have goblin friends.' I didn't get it at the time."

"I take it you do now?" Fred smirked.

"Too well," Harry said with feeling.

"Harry, dear," Ron's mum poked her head out the window. "Could you please give Arthur a hand in the kitchen? He's been mucking about with the Muggle dishwasher, and I'm afraid he's given it a nervous condition."

"I'll come too," said Bill, following Harry. "A curse-breakers' work is never done."

"Is Hermione done nursing the baby?" Ron asked Mum, as Bill and Harry headed inside.

"Yes, dear, and I'm so glad she went to the bedroom to do that; she's gone and fallen asleep, the poor thing."

"'Ermione 'as not 'ad sleep in a while, eet looks like," said Fleur, joining Mum at the window, her one-year-old in her arms. "She ees not lookeeng good."

"She has a very small baby," Mum said disapprovingly.

"So 'ave I, and two older ones," Fleur pointed out, flipping back her long, silvery hair and smiling at her youngest, who was sleeping peacefully in her arms. Ron, Fred, and George hid smiles at their mother's irate expression, and glanced out at the yard instead, where all but the two youngest of the eleven Weasley grandchildren were playing happily, a riot of almost universal freckles and red hair. The older children seemed to be vigorously degnoming the garden, while the younger set played happily in the sandbox, staring with the rapt attention only three-year-olds can give to sand falling through a sieve. Ron smiled fondly as his own older son suddenly popped up with a gnome in his hand, and winced as the gnome bit him and Jason let out a few choice words. Good thing Hermione wasn't there to hear. Alec sat nearby on a tree stump, contentedly gazing at nothing and singing to himself. Something about being taken away somewhere, from what little Ron could hear over the yells of the gnome hunters.

George frowned. "Where's-"

"Frank? Under the hedge," Fred said, pointing as a small pair of legs poked out, followed by bits of grubby little boy as he crawled out. "I think he's trying to catch pixies."

"That's Graham."

"Frank."

"Shirt says G."

"I saw them switch."

"B-bugger." George glanced back at the house worriedly.

Fred laughed. "Demelza still threatening to write F and G on their foreheads in no-erase ink if they keep doing that?"

"I t-told Mum not to tell her about that."

"Serves you right, you know," Ron said gleefully. "Both of you. Mum and Dad are getting back for all the grief you two ever gave them."

"It's gone far beyond getting back, mate," Fred said with feeling, watching his daughter terrorizing gnomes and cousins with cheerful abandon.

"Michelle looks loads better," Ron said.

"Clean bill of health as of two days ago," said Fred, and Ron nodded. Michelle had finally recovered from a bad bout of dragonpox, but Fred and his wife were still a bit nervous about her. She didn't seem any worse for wear, though.

"I can throw the gnomes farther than you," she was bragging loudly to her cousins.

"No you can't," said Pierre, Bill's eldest.

"Can so."

"Can not. And you shouldn't throw them that way; Grandmum'll go mental if they land in her begonias."

"Not if we get rid of them before she sees them. Let's do a competition for who can throw them the farthest."

"All right, take aim and-"

"Let's do five each, then nobody can say it's a fluke."

"I don't have five."

"Remy, you and Jason dig and put them in this barrel. We'll need more help though." She looked around. "Alec, come here and help us dig up garden gnomes!"

The men looked over at Alec, and Fred sighed as Alec seemed to shrink a bit and shook his head.

"You have to! Come here!" said Michelle imperiously.

"I don't want to. I'm busy," he said, and Fred shook his head and started towards them. George put a hand out to stop him.

"She's not doing anything wrong yet," Ron pointed out. "And you know Harry wants Alec to learn to stand up for himself."

"You're not doing _anything_!" Michelle shouted. "Come and help!"

"I'm practicing a song."

"That's stupid."

Fred rubbed his forehead. "Is it just me, or do you ever get a real feeling of sympathy for Percy when she does this?"

"N-not just you," George said wryly. "Except Percy was n-never as cute as Alec."

"He also didn't have uncles to stand up for him if things went too far," Ron pointed out.

"He had Mum," George said.

"True enough."

"I learned a new song," Alec said to Michelle. "Do you want to hear it?"

"No," she said impatiently, and Fred winced at Alec's disappointed expression.

"Come here, Alec," Fred said encouragingly. "I'd like to hear your new song."

Alec beamed and approached his uncles, drew himself up and started to sing. Michelle marched over and broke in impatiently.

"That sounds stupid," she said scornfully.

"Michelle," Fred said warningly.

Alec was unfazed. "It's the harmony. That's the part that goes with the melody. You don't usually sing it on its own."

"So you don't even get to sing real songs? Where's the fun in that?"

"No, it's brilliant! It's loads harder to sing the alto line, and besides, Ben sings first soprano, so every time I see him we can practice together and he's got a brilliant voice-"

"Ben?" Fred frowned and Ron tensed, noting George's suddenly indrawn breath.

"Yeah! I told him to teach me that one because we're in different choirs, but then he said I could maybe sing in his choir for the next concert, and he asked his daddy and his daddy said yes even though it's a Muggle choir and it's brilliant! We're going to sing together! On stage and everything!"

Fred's lips were pressed together, and Alec suddenly stopped talking as if a switch had been turned off.

"Your friend's dad. Is that Draco?" Fred asked quietly, and Alec blinked at him nervously. "Never mind, mate," Fred said, sensing his unease. He patted Alec's arm and gave him a small smile. "I'm glad you're having fun at your choir."

"Draco's - he's - he's nice, he's changed," Alec said, his voice trembling a bit.

Fred's expression was carefully neutral. "Alec, it's all right. I'm glad you like your choir. D'you want to keep practicing your song?" Alec nodded, green eyes still wide and nervous. "Go on." He gave Alec a warm hug, bending down and murmuring, "Why don't you go practice near the chicken shed? Michelle hates chickens. You can sing your song for us later, all right?"

Alec headed off, and Fred straightened up and turned to Ron. "Harry's still in contact with Malfoy, then."

George looked away, and Ron took a deep breath. "Yeah."

"Are they dating?"

"He hasn't said so." Ron paused. "We think so, though," he finished reluctantly.

Fred turned and headed towards the house without another word. Ron and George exchanged an alarmed glance and hurried after him.

"Fred-" Ron began, following Fred as he pushed through the crowd in the living room and entered the kitchen, where Dad, Bill, Harry, and Fred's wife, Anne, stood around the dishwasher, which appeared to be sobbing.

"I need to talk to you for a moment," Fred said to Harry in a low voice, and Harry's eyebrows went up, but he followed Fred to the hallway. George hastily joined the group at the weeping dishwasher and feigned great interest in it, distracting Dad and Bill. Anne narrowed her eyes and watched Harry and Fred.

Harry glanced out the window at the backyard, worried. "Are Alec and Michelle-"

"I hear you're still in contact with Malfoy," Fred said quietly.

Harry stiffened and darted a glance at Ron, who shrugged helplessly. "Yeah. I never said I wouldn't be."

"What exactly does 'contact' mean?"

Harry's eyes narrowed. "Fred, this is none of your business." He turned to go back to the kitchen.

"We're not done," Fred said.

"Yeah, we are," Harry said over his shoulder.

"Don't you bloody well walk away from me!" Fred exclaimed, and Dad and Bill looked up at them in surprise. George crossed his arms and leaned against the kitchen wall resignedly.

"What's going on?" Dad asked.

"Are you going to tell them?" Fred asked Harry challengingly. "Or am I?"

"Fred, don't-" Ron began, glancing into the living room, where it seemed a few conversations were pausing as people noticed the raised voices in the kitchen area. "Do you want everyone else involved in this?" Ron asked, turning his back to the living room and keeping his voice down.

"Involved in what?" George's wife asked, entering the kitchen.

"Maybe we should," Fred said.

"Fred! Don't!" Ron said, his heart sinking.

"Why?" Fred asked. "You want to keep this in our little circle forever? You don't think Bill, at least, has a right to know?"

"Right to know what?" Bill asked, and Ron groaned. In living room, all other conversation had stopped.

"What ees eet?" Fleur said worriedly, coming to the kitchen. "Are you keeping someteeng from us?"

"It's none of anybody's business-" Ron began.

"Actually, I think it is," said Fred.

"What ees eet?"

"I'm dating Draco Malfoy," Harry said quietly.

There was a shocked silence.

Fleur frowned. "Ees diss a joke?" She looked at Fred and George suspiciously.

"No," said Harry.

"I'll g-go keep and eye on the k-kids," George said abruptly and headed for the back door.

Fred made an impatient sound. "You're one of the people most affected by this. Alec's spending time with _Malfoy_. Do you want that? Knowing what his family's done to ours? To _you_?"

George gave him an unreadable look and walked out the door, quickly followed by his wife.

"Fred, leave them," Anne said quietly as Fred made as though to follow them. Fred stopped.

"Good move, Fred," Ron said in disgust. "Well done."

"You're dating... Malfoy?" Percy said weakly. "Draco Malfoy?"

"No, Lucius," Fred said impatiently. "Of course _Draco_ Malfoy."

"This is none of our business," Ron repeated.

"Excuse me?" Percy said, his eyes widening. "Harry's dating a _Malfoy_ and you think it's none of our business?"

"What's happening?" Hermione said, entering the kitchen with Joshua in her arms. She looked around at the silent gathering: Bill and Fleur looking hurt, Dad looking a little ill, Percy and his wife gobsmacked, and Mum, Fred, Anne, Harry, and Ron rather grim.

"Harry's just told us he's dating Draco Malfoy," Percy said heavily. Hermione sighed and went to stand by Harry and Ron, putting a comforting hand on Harry's shoulder, and Ron took the baby from her.

"Who knew about this already?" Bill said, his voice quiet.

Ron cleared his throat, keeping his eyes on Joshua so as to avoid the hurt look on Bill's face. "Me and Hermione. And the twins, and Anne and Demelza."

"And me," said Mum.

"And you all decided to keep it a secret?" Bill asked.

"We didn't think anybody else needed to get upset over it," Mum said.

"You don't say," Bill said softly. Harry rubbed his forehead, looking rather miserable. "How long has this been going on?"

"Since Beltane night," said Harry.

"What?! Zat ees two months!" said Fleur. "How deed zis 'appen?"

Harry rubbed his eyes under his glasses. "I had to work with him, remember, for Beltane. We got to know each other. I didn't think - I never meant to-" He stopped, took a deep breath. "He's not the same person he was before. I... he _gets_ Alec. Alec's happy, and... and I'm happy with him, and I'm sorry for putting people in a difficult position-"

"'Putting people in a difficult position'?" Fred asked grimly. "That's what you call this?"

"It wouldn't be a difficult position if you hadn't forced Harry to tell everybody, Fred," Ron pointed out, keeping his voice down to avoid startling the baby.

"Oh, you're right," said Fred. "_Much_ better for him to just keep dating Malfoy in secret for years until one day we all get wedding invitations and have to deal with it then."

"We couldn't hide this forever, Ron," said Mum. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to break Harry's confidence, but I have never been in favour of this relationship, and I think it's probably past time it came out into the open."

"Look, it's Harry's choice who he-" Hermione began.

"Excuse me?" Anne interrupted. "Draco Malfoy is responsible for what happened to Bill, and-"

"He was sixteen years old," Hermione said hotly. "And he was being threatened, and he didn't know Fenrir would be coming through that cabinet."

"No," said Anne, rolling her eyes. "He just thought a fat load of _Death Eaters_ were coming through. Who could've guessed they might throw in a werewolf too?"

"I'm sorry, but 'He didn't know' is not an excuse," added Percy.

"We're not saying it's an excuse," Hermione began. "But it's-"

"And he was in prison," Mum added. "_Prison_. And not wrongly convicted like Sirius was, either - in prison for good reason, along with both of his parents."

"How many years ago? And for how long?" Ron countered. It briefly crossed his mind that it was completely mental, defending Malfoy to his family... but it wasn't like he and Hermione could just leave Harry to stand against the entire Weasley clan by himself. Especially since Harry looked... well, 'beyond miserable' came pretty close to describing his expression right about now.

"I looked into his background when we first heard Harry was interested in him," Hermione said, her voice firm. "He's been watched constantly and has made no trouble at all. He works with Muggles, for Heaven's sake."

Ron suppressed a totally inappropriate smile at the way his dad very visibly struggled with the impulse to derail the conversation by asking Hermione to elaborate on that.

"His father cursed George," Mum said. "It took George _six months_ to get out of St. Mungo's. And he's still - he'll never be the same, he still stammers, he can't see well indoors without glasses-"

"You _know_ how George feels about that, Mum," Ron protested. "He's always said he figures he got away easy. And nobody minds the stammer, and George's indoor glasses let him see through walls and he has no end of fun with them." He glanced out the window, where George and his wife appeared to have organized a gnome-throwing contest with the children. George was holding one of his twins - Graham, to judge from the clearly marked G on his forehead - and cheering as Bill's middle son threw one in a long arc over the bushes.

"Besides, Lucius Malfoy is in prison for the rest of his life, and Draco has no contact with him," Hermione was saying as Ron brought his attention back to the conversation.

"How much contact do you and Alec have with Malfoy?" Bill asked Harry.

"We see each other every weekend," said Harry. "Most of the time he comes to visit with his son. He doesn't want any publicity, so we don't go out."

"That's charming," said Anne dryly. "This is what you're teaching your son, that being part of a couple means you need to meet in secret?"

Harry looked uncomfortable. "Look... I never bring him here, I don't invite anybody to our house when he's there, none of you ever have to see him. Why does it matter that-"

"He's around Alec!" Fred said.

"He understands Alec!" Harry shot back. "He understands how Alec's mind works, understands what music means to him! Do you know how rare that is for Alec?"

Fred bit his lip, and Ron wondered if he was at that very moment remembering the scene they'd just witnessed with Michelle.

"What do you want from me?" Harry asked the room at large. "Do you want me to stop seeing him?"

"That would be a start," Percy nodded. "Or at least keep him away from Alec."

"And if he doesn't?" Hermione asked. "What will you do then?" There was an uncomfortable silence. "Shun him, maybe? Not let Harry or Alec come to the Burrow?"

"Of course not!" Dad said, looking shocked.

"Don't be ridiculous," Mum said vehemently. "This is your home as well as it's anybody's, dear," she said to Harry.

"What about you two?" Hermione turned to Fred and Percy. "Would you not want to be in the same room as Harry, then? Refuse to come if he's going to be here?"

Fred and Percy exchanged a glance, and Harry cleared his throat. "Don't make me choose between you and Draco, please," he said quietly.

"Why? Which would you choose?" Fred asked challengingly.

"Do you have to ask?" Harry said. He stared at the floor for a long moment. "You... you're all the family Alec and I have," he said slowly. "I'm not going to jeopardize that for a bloke I've been dating for a few months, no matter how I feel about-" he stopped and looked away. "Look, all of you work this out among yourselves. Alec and I'll just go-"

"Dear, don't," Mum said quickly. "Stay, please. We can talk this out."

"I don't think so. If I stay I think a lot of us are going to say things we'll regret later." Harry glanced at Fred. "I know I will, anyway."

"Then at least leave Alec here," Mum said. "Don't make him miss the birthday sleepover."

"Fine," said Harry wearily. "I'll come get him tomorrow."

"Harry..." Dad said, and Harry turned back. "You're as much of a son to us as any of our boys," he said awkwardly, and Harry gave him a small smile.

"Thanks." Harry hesitated for a moment before heading to the backyard.

"Good move, Fred," Ron said. He looked out the window. Alec appeared to be telling Harry something important, and Harry was listening patiently and nodding. He looked up as George approached, and they exchanged a look as Harry gave Alec a goodbye hug and stood up to go. Then George said something that appeared to startle Harry before taking Alec by the hand and leading him back to the gnome-throwing contest. Harry stood watching them for a moment, looking bemused, then Disapparated.

"- no harm talking to Harry about it," Mum was saying. "Maybe if he knew how bad a choice we think-"

"Mum, he knows, all right?" Ron said impatiently, switching the baby to his shoulder as he started to fuss. "Hermione and I have talked to him plenty."

"You two have been playing cupid for them almost from the beginning," said Fred angrily. "I'm not sure what good it does to have you talk to him. The rest of us-"

George opened the back door and poked his head in. "Is it over? I s-saw Harry leaving."

"No, it's not over," Percy said, and George sighed and put on his glasses, coming back inside. "And for the record, I think Fred's right," Percy continued. "I'm not sure what we can do about it, but we can't just sit by and-"

"There you go, Fred. _Percy_ thinks you're right. Percy's behind you all the way on this." Ron was grimly amused at Fred and Percy's expressions; it was a toss-up which one looked more disturbed to find himself on the same side of an issue as the other.

"So what are you going to do?" Hermione asked again. "Demand that he stop seeing Malfoy?"

"Yes!" said Percy.

"And what if he doesn't?" Hermione asked.

"I won't be in the same room as Malfoy," Percy replied.

"Well then our work is done," Ron said dryly. "Let's tell Harry so he can break up with Malfoy immediately."

Fred cleared his throat. "Look. Harry had a long talk with me in May, where he told me he didn't want me to talk to anybody about this. Refused to answer when I asked him if he was dating Malfoy, and just told me not to tell anyone who didn't already know. So I didn't. The whole thing stayed between us - I've never even said anything to Lee or Angelina or Verity. But maybe it's time to change that."

"What do you mean?" asked Hermione.

"Malfoy doesn't want anybody to know about him and Harry. I happen to know Azkaban parolees are required to tell their parole officers everything, including what happens in their private lives. I doubt Malfoy's done that."

"You'd tell his parole officer?! Send him back to Azkaban?!" Hermione was incredulous, and Ron's mouth dropped open.

"I wish I could," Fred said grimly. "But as a matter of fact, I don't think that would do it. He's only required to report every six months. The last time was March, so he's not due until September. He's not technically in violation of his parole."

"You seem to know a lot about this," Bill said.

"We d-did some research," George said quietly. "L-looked up his Azkaban file."

"So why tell his parole officer then, if it won't do any good?" Hermione asked.

"His parole officer, or maybe The Prophet," said Fred. "Malfoy doesn't want publicity; if he gets it, he'll crawl back to whatever rock he's been hiding under and leave Harry and Alec alone."

Hermione was shaking her head in disbelief. "And you don't think it'll hurt Harry to be splashed across the front page of The Prophet? And what about Alec?"

"Malfoy doesn't have to know that we don't really want to do it," Fred pointed out.

"Blackmail, then," Ron said flatly.

"If you want to call it that," Fred said evenly.

"That's what it is," Hermione said, her voice cold. "And I can't believe you'd want to stoop so low."

"I can't believe Harry's stooped so low as to date Malfoy!" Percy said hotly. "He is being completely irresponsible!"

"You aren't sixteen any more!" Hermione said to Fred, ignoring Percy. "And this isn't like threatening to tell people about Ludo Bagman taking your money! This is a real person whose life you're threatening - _four_ real people, two of them small children who haven't done anything wrong!"

"I don't want a former inmate and _Death Eater_ near Alec!" Fred said. "Doesn't anybody else care about that?"

"Just because we don't want to resort to blackmail doesn't mean we don't care!" Hermione said.

"How is letting Harry bring Draco Malfoy into Alec's life 'caring'?" Percy asked.

"Harry's been lonely, Percy," said Ron. "Really, really lonely. You don't think that affects Alec too?"

"So he can find somebody else," Mum said, looking sorrowful but resolute. "We've all been encouraging him to date again for years-"

"And why do you think he hasn't followed up on any of the dozens of people we've thrown at him?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know," said Mum, "but surely there's somebody else who-"

"Maybe, Mum, but Malfoy actually makes him happy," Ron said, feeling a bit ill even as he said it.

"That's true," Bill said suddenly. "I've noticed it, even. He's a lot more cheerful at work. I'd wondered about it, actually."

"Yes, you said 'e was 'appier," Fleur said, nodding. "But... after what zat Malfoy boy deed to you? You don't theenk Fred 'as a point?"

Bill took a deep breath. "I don't think it's any of our business," he said. "If he's not bringing Malfoy here, and he's not living with him, I don't think there's much we can do about it. Not sure there's much I want to do about it. And I'm pretty sure I don't want to have anything to do with anything resembling blackmail."

Fred and Percy exchanged looks. "So... that's it?" Fred said in disbelief. "He's free to make his choices, free to raise Ginny's son near a convict, and everybody's happy?"

"Nobody's happy," Bill said impatiently. "I'm certainly not happy that Harry and I have worked together for years and he was keeping something like this from me. Doesn't mean I'm going to do anything about it." Fleur shook her head in disagreement but remained silent.

"George? Where do you stand?" Hermione asked quietly.

George shrugged. "I d-don't honestly care," he said. "Sorry, Fred, I don't. We looked up Malfoy's records, h-he's law-abiding now, and I d-don't care-"

"How can you just accept-" Fred interrupted.

"Because it's been years," George said firmly. "And it w-wasn't Draco Malfoy who cursed me."

"I happen to know Demelza disagrees with you on this," said Anne.

"G-good for Demelza," George said shortly.

Fred shook his head. "This isn't over," he said bitterly. "It's not over. The rest of you may be fine with it, but I refuse to be."

"So do I," said Anne.

"So you're willing to jeopardize a friendship because of who Harry's dating?" Hermione asked.

"Th-that's not fair," George said quietly. "You know Fred and Anne didn't mean it like that."

There was a long silence.

"Well. This has been very pleasant," said Dad heavily. "But I think we've all had enough. It's your son's birthday party, Fred. Let's get the kids and start on the cake and presents."

Fred shook his head and went to fetch his son, lips still pressed tight, anger radiating off of him, as the rest of them brought the cake and presents outside and cast cooling charms.

Ron felt a wave of resentment at Harry, who in all likelihood was off with Malfoy right now. He rocked Joshua gently and gazed at Alec, dreamily staring at the leaves above him and humming a tune to himself before Demelza picked him up and carried him to the area of the yard where the entire family had gathered. Alec winced as the out-of-tune Happy Birthday was sung.

Ron sighed as he glanced over his huge family, where every child had two parents. Even when he was here, Harry was always alone. And if he continued to see Malfoy, he'd never be anything other than alone among the Weasleys. Alec would never know what it was like to have his whole family in one place. He would forever be unique among his cousins. Not as bad as Harry's parentless childhood by any means, but Ron couldn't help being reminded of Harry as a child nonetheless.

Damn it, Harry, Ron thought wearily. Can you really live with doing that to your son? Why the bloody hell couldn't you pick a better person to fall in love with?

**oooOOOooo**

**Author's Note:** The song Alec is singing in this chapter is Labour of Love, by Stephen Hatfield. Lyrics and a downloadable file can be found on the lyrics page, along with other songs mentioned in the story.

The lyrics page is here (remember to take out the spaces and change all "dots" to periods and "slash" to slash signs, since fanfiction dot net does not allow URLs to be posted).

annafugazzi dot livejournal dot com slash 55489 dot html


	4. August

**Author's Note:** Moving right along, we're now at August of Ember to Ember, the sequel to Volunteers (fic written for **hdsbeltane**). As always, I welcome suggestions and concrit.

**scrtkpr**, you're totally awesome :)

**Also:** **It will take a little longer to get chapter 5 up.** It's already written and betad, but I only post when I'm two chapters ahead. So, since chapter 6 is giving me a little trouble and RL is kicking me rather hard, it'll take a little longer to put up chapter 5. Sorry :(

**oooOOOooo**

_**Date:**_ _July 30  
__**From:**__ hjpottergringotts.wz  
__**To:**__ malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
Alec's really looking forward to Brigid's Cross this weekend._

**Date:** July 31  
**From:** malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpottergringotts.wz  
Ben hasn't shut up about it in days :)

_**Date:**_ _August 2  
__**From:**__ hjpottergringotts.wz  
__**To:**__ malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
Bad news: we've still got the day to spend, but dinner at Hermione and Ron's in the evening. Yet another Weasley weekend event that just happened to get mentioned in front of Alec. This seems to be happening a lot._

**Date:** August 3  
**From:** malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpottergringotts.wz  
Don't worry about it. We'll see you at Brigid's Cross.

**ooo000ooo**

**August 5**

Ben looked around the music shop at the singing harps and self-playing pianos, amazed. Brigid's Cross, the wizarding shopping area in Dublin, was the single coolest thing Dad had shown him _ever_. It was like everything Dad had talked about was _right here_. Portraits that talked and sweets that threw themselves into your mouth and magical animals. There was magic humming in the air around him, and he held out his hand to feel it. It tickled a bit. Alec said he didn't feel anything, but Alec was used to magic. Dad said he knew what Ben was talking about.

First had been the brightly coloured sweets shop, where licorice sticks danced and they had loads of the Chocolate Frogs Alec had shown him a long time ago, and they'd bought _ten_ of them. The wizard who ran the shop was brilliant, too. He'd laughed when Ben was scared because Harry blew a gum bubble and it turned into a bird, but he was nice anyway. He'd explained to Ben how the gum worked and then blew bubbles that came out like Ben wanted them to, like bears and foxes. And he'd helped Ben pick out singing sweets. It was weird that he didn't understand when Ben said he'd only ever seen sweets sing and dance in adverts on the telly, but he was all right.

The only thing wrong with today was that there was so _much_ to see, but he and Alec had to keep waiting for Dad and Harry to catch up.

Alec was showing Ben loads of things, like books that _really_ talked. They didn't just say a few words, like the farm book he had at Mam's house where if you pressed the pictures of animals they said moo or cluck or neigh and the farmer said "milk for sale" and "feed the chickens." They didn't just have moving pictures, like Beedle the Bard and Dad's other bedtime story books. These books actually answered questions. They told _jokes_. It was _brilliant_.

Dad and Harry looked pretty happy, too. Dad seemed a bit nervous, but he and Harry were mostly smiling too. And they could even hold hands in public here. Ben had never seen two men or two girls do that outside - Mam said a lot of people, like Granda, didn't like to see that kind of thing. Sometimes she did it anyway, and most Muggles didn't seem to care, but Ben had seen a few people frown at Mam when she kissed one of her girlfriends. Here nobody seemed to care about Dad and Harry.

It was a little weird that Ben and Alec and Harry didn't look like themselves, though. They were wearing little amulets that gave them different faces and bodies. It was funny, but sometimes it was a bit confusing because Alec didn't look like himself. He was blond and a little bit fat. And Harry had light brown hair and brown eyes, no scar, and he was a bit skinny. Dad had said he'd explain why they had to wear them some other time.

Ben rather liked what he looked like right now. He'd tried on an amulet that made him ginger-haired and small - a bit like Alec, actually - and another that gave him short brown hair and blue eyes. He'd finally decided on the one that made him look like Mam's neighbour Mr. Sanjay, only small.

Dad and Harry had talked about the amulets a lot - argued about it, actually, which wasn't terribly nice. Dad wanted Ben to wear one, but Harry had said a lot of things about how Dad had to let wizards get to know the real Ben eventually. They weren't fighting any more, though, and Ben was glad. Grown-ups shouldn't fight.

Dad was showing the singing harps to Alec, and Ben was looking out the window and feeling a bit hungry, when Harry tapped him on the shoulder.

"Ben, do you want to see the broom shop?"

Ben's mouth dropped open. "Yeah!" he said. "D'you think I can get one of me own?"

"Probably not today, but we can at least look at them." He turned to Dad. "D'you want to stay with Alec while I take Ben to see brooms?"

Dad shook his head. "No, let's all go."

Harry sighed. "Draco, it'll be all right. The owner of this shop knows you. Nobody else is in here. Come on, Ben's been here long enough, and he's not that interested, but Alec's been wanting to see the magical harps forever."

Dad shook his head, and Harry sighed again. "Will you bloody well trust me? You've been to Brigid's Cross five times already; nothing's happened, what are the odds that something will while you're in here?"

"I want you to be able to take Alec and Ben away quickly if you have to," Dad said with a quick glance at Ben.

"We'll come back soon," Harry said, his hand on Dad's arm. "Come on. Please."

Dad frowned but gave in. "All right," he said, giving Harry a quick kiss and ruffling Ben's hair as he and Harry set off.

Why would Dad be worried? It wasn't like Ben was so small he couldn't behave himself. And broom sticks! And he was going to see a whole _shop_ full of broomsticks!! He ran down the street, pulling Harry along by the hand as Harry laughed and told him to slow down.

The broomstick store was if possible even cooler than the sweets store. So _many_ broomsticks, so many sizes. And tiny toy people on broomsticks flying around the store!

"What's that one?" Ben asked, pointing at a bunch of boys pressing their faces up to a gold-framed display case.

"That's the Nimbus 3000," said Harry. "It's the best available right now, outside of professional-level brooms."

"What's processional level?"

"That's for pro_f_essionals who play Quidditch as their job. Like football players."

"Did you ever play professional Quidditch?"

"Oh yes," Harry said, and smiled. "So did Alec's mum. She was a Chaser."

"Was she as good as you?"

"Erm, well she didn't do the same thing as me," said Harry. "It's hard to tell who's better when you're playing different positions. She was definitely a better Chaser than I was."

"Wow. I didn't know she played Quidditch. Did she ever win anything?"

"Our team won a lot of games but we never won the cup. She only played for four years though."

"Why did she stop?" Ben asked, and giggled as a small toy flier whirled right around his head.

"She got pregnant. It's not good to be flying around having Bludgers tossed at you when you're pregnant. We thought she'd go back after Alec was born."

"Did she?"

Harry shook his head, and it was funny how he suddenly looked like _himself_, even though his face was different because of the amulet. He looked sad. "She died."

"Was Alec small when she died?"

"She died at the same time as Alec was born."

"That sounds sad," Ben said, feeling sorry for Alec. Imagine, never having a mum.

"Yeah, it was."

"D'you still feel sad?" Ben asked curiously.

Harry cleared his throat and gave him a small smile. "A bit. She's been gone a long time, but I still miss her sometimes."

"Alec knows a lot about her," Ben said, looking at the tiny flyers again.

"Yeah, we've told him a lot of stories."

"Who's told him?"

"Me and her parents. And her brothers. She's got six of them, you know."

"Yeah! Alec told me! Can I meet them?"

Harry blinked. "Erm. Well, you've met one of them. Remember Ron and Hermione? Ron was her brother."

"That's the uncle that had the baby in the bubble, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"I've never seen a baby in a bubble. Can I?"

Harry cleared his throat again. "Well, he doesn't need to be in the bubble any more. Look, do you see the little brooms in this case? These are toy brooms for very very small children. They don't go up very far, so that if a child falls off he won't get hurt. This one's for babies."

"It's so tiny! Did Alec have one when he was little?"

"Oh yes," Harry said, smiling. "He got a bigger one when he was two."

"Did you have little brooms?"

"Yeah, I had a baby one."

"Did you like it?"

"I don't really remember. I was very small."

"Did you have the bigger ones?"

"No," Harry said, looking a bit uncomfortable.

"Why? Did you fall?"

"No," Harry said, and started to point out different brooms. They were brilliant, all of them. One flew straight extra fast. Another let you flip upside down without falling off. Another turned really fast. And Harry explained how each one worked, answered all of Ben's questions, told him stories about Quidditch games.

Coming to Brigid's Cross had been a _great_ idea.

"All right, Ben," Harry finally said. "It's time to go back to your dad and Alec."

"OK," Ben said, and they went back to the music store, passing by the sweets shop. His stomach grumbled.

"We'll stop at the pub to eat after we pick them up, all right?" Harry said, and Ben couldn't wait. A wizarding pub. They'd probably have pumpkin juice.

"Everything all right here?" Harry asked when they came back to the music shop, where Dad was holding Alec up to a set of windchimes. They turned and smiled at Ben and Harry, and then Alec squirmed to get down, running to Ben as soon as Dad put him down.

"Ben! There's a singing potion!!" he said, very excited. "You have to try it, it's brilliant! It makes it so you can sing a whole lot of notes _at the same time_!" He dragged Ben to the shopkeeper. "This is my friend Ben and we're in choir together and can you give him the potion too please?"

The shopkeeper smiled. "All right laddie, now I've told yer friend Alec this won't last very long; 'tis only the free sample. The bottle costs three Galleons. Now, all ye have to do is think of the chords ye want to sing in your head, right? Here you go." She gave Ben a tiny cup with a mouthful of clear golden potion that smelled like violets. Ben took a cautious sip.

"It tastes like strawberries!" he said, and she smiled.

"Think of the practice exercises we do in choir," Alec said, and Ben closed his eyes and concentrated. Not just on the scale the sopranos sang, but the seconds and altos as well.

He opened his mouth and tried a note, and his eyes popped open. "It works!" he said. "That's _bri_lliant!!"

"Here, let's try Pachelbel, it's in four parts," said Alec. "You do the first soprano and first alto line."

"But you don't sing second soprano," said Ben. "Or second alto."

"I know them, though. Come on, let's sing."

And it was incredibly fun, although Ben kept forgetting notes. Alec didn't. Alec was a lot better at this than he was. Which wasn't really fair, since Harry couldn't even really sing and Dad was great at it. But a few people had come into the shop, and they were smiling at him and Alec - real witches and wizards were smiling and nodding, Dad had his arm around Harry's waist and his chin resting on Harry's shoulder as they listened to Ben and Alec sing, and Ben was in heaven. This was just the coolest day _ever_.

"Can we buy the potion, Dad?" Ben asked, and Dad smiled and nodded.

"Oh Draco!" Alec said. "Maybe we can use it when we get back home - we can all take it and then practice Beati Quorum! And oh Draco we can maybe sing Miserere and Lacrymosa! And Daddy, you can sing one part, can't you?"

"I'm not terribly good at singing, Alec," said Harry, laughing.

Dad smirked at him. "Listen, with enough work even you can struggle through one part. I'll help."

Alec wanted to try the potion again right then and there, but Ben's stomach chose that moment to growl rather loudly.

"No, come on, little man," Harry said. "I think Ben's going to pass out from hunger. Let's pay for the potion and go."

"Why does my voice sound funny?" Alec asked the shopkeeper as she put the bottle into a bag for them. "It doesn't sound like my voice. I didn't notice it when I was just talking, but I notice it when I'm singing."

"Well if ye sing a part ye aren't used to, yer voice'll be higher or lower than normal."

"No, I'm used to that. But it just sounds different."

She looked puzzled. "I'm not sure. Are you under the effect of another potion or charm?"

"No, but I'm wearing an amulet."

"It's time to go, boys" said Harry quickly. "Say thank you to the shopkeeper," he reminded them. They left the shop and walked down the street to the pub.

"Daddy, d'you think maybe my voice is different because of the amulet?" asked Alec.

"Maybe. The amulet gives you the body of another person, and it might change your voice a little too. I hadn't noticed it," Harry said. "It's so much easier going in disguise like this. When I was younger, the only way to disguise yourself really well was to drink Polyjuice potion." He made a face. "Really, really yucky stuff."

As they walked into a small alleyway, Ben took his amulet off and hummed. "There's me real voice again!"

"Put it back on, Ben, please," said Dad.

"This street smells awful," Ben said, getting the amulet caught on his collar button. "Why do we have to go here to get to the pub?"

"A lot of wizarding places are like this," Dad said. "Rough outside, but inside they're quite nice. I've eaten here a few times."

"Do they have pumpkin juice?" Ben asked, still struggling with the amulet.

Dad and Harry smiled at each other. "Yeah, I'm sure they do," Harry said, and stepped aside for a witch and a wizard in tall pointy hats who were coming out of the building. The wizard glanced at Dad as he went past, walked a couple of steps, then stopped and turned and stared at him.

"Malfoy?" the man said slowly. "Draco Malfoy?"

Dad turned around, startled.

"You're Draco Malfoy, aren't you?" the man said, frowning.

Dad glanced at Ben quickly. "Yes," he said, and he sounded a little nervous.

"What the fuck are you doing here?"

Dad gave Harry a quick look, and Harry grabbed Alec and Ben, opening the door the couple had just come through. Ben tried to turn to look at Dad, but Harry's grip was tight. What was that man saying to Dad? And why was Dad just staring at the man, not saying anything?

"Were ye no sent to Azkaban?"

"I was let out seven years ago," Dad said quietly, and Ben started struggling as Harry tried to push him through the door. Something was happening to Dad, and Harry didn't seem to understand that Ben needed to be with him. That man was looking pretty mean, and he wasn't as big as Dad but he was a wizard, and Dad hadn't done a lot of magic for a long time, and who knew if the mean man was going to try to turn Dad into a frog or something-

"Ben!" Harry said sternly. "Get inside! Now!"

"No!" Ben said, struggling harder.

"BEN! Your father wants you to go inside!"

"That man's going to hurt me Da!" Ben cried out as the door shut behind them.

"No he's not, he's just an idiot who's going to say some stupid things. Your dad'll be here in a minute."

"I WANT ME DA!" Ben yelled, reaching for the handle, but Harry blocked him. Outside there were sounds of shouting.

"BEN!" Harry said. "Listen to me. Listen to me!!" He paused and Ben stopped struggling. "I need to go outside and make sure your dad is all right. I can't do that if you're trying to get out. All right? I need you and Alec to stay here so I can make sure your dad's OK. I'll be right back. Can I trust you to stay here?"

Ben glared at Harry.

"Ben, I need to help your dad," Harry said, and Ben realized Harry was scared. A pain twisted his stomach. "Please promise me you'll stay here."

Ben bit his lip. Dad needed somebody to help him, and Harry was a lot bigger than Ben was, and he worked with trolls and everything. He nodded, the twisting pain getting worse.

Harry knelt and put his hands on Ben and Alec's shoulders, looking at them seriously. "Both of you stay here and keep each other safe. Be big boys for me and Draco, all right?"

He went back out the door and Ben strained to hear what was going on outside.

"What's happening?" Alec asked, his voice very tiny.

"I don't know. I can't hear them!" Ben said, and the twisting got stronger. There was shouting, but he couldn't tell what was going on. Then there was a loud POP and Harry was back with them.

"I'm taking you two to Ron and Hermione's," he said. "Don't worry about your dad, Ben, he'll be along soon. It's just a couple of nasty people out there being idiots, and your dad's not in any danger, but he'd like you two to get out."

"NO!" Ben said, and the panicky feeling got stronger. He reached for the door again. "Me Dad's never been to Ron and Hermione's house! He won't know how to get there!"

"Yes he will," Harry said, blocking the door. "Come on-"

"NO!" Ben yelled, and then he was outside in the street again. He blinked at the sudden light, not sure how he'd got there. Where was he? And where was Dad? And Harry and Alec?

Suddenly Ben recognized the building he was standing in front of and ran to the alley off its side. There was the couple he'd seen before, and they were both yelling about eating dead people and Azkasan, and Dad was holding his wand in front of himself but not pointing it at either of them and not saying anything. Then the woman spat on Dad. _Spat_ on him, with an angry look on her face. Dad's face went very pale and he wiped his cheek, but didn't say anything to her. Just looked at her while she screamed.

"Filthy Death Eater scum!"

"DAD!" Ben shouted. The woman turned around just as the door behind her opened and Harry came out.

"Ben! Get back here!" Harry shouted.

"DAD!!"

"And who's this?" the woman said, looking at Ben and she _hated_ Ben - Ben had never seen her before, but she really _hated_ him.

"The Malfoy family's not quite dead then, is it?" the man said, and took a step closer to Ben. Ben backed into Harry's arms.

"Filthy fucking purebloods," the woman spat. "They should've castrated the lot of ye the minute they decided not to give you the Kiss like you deserved! Raising another little Death Eater, are you?"

"No!" Dad hadn't said that - that was Harry, who had lurched forward and grabbed Dad's wand hand, pushing it down.

"You can say whatever the fuck you want to me," Dad said fiercely, "but shut your mouth about-"

"Draco!" Harry grabbed him, then turned to the woman. "Shut up!"

"So that's yer son," the man said, glaring at Ben. "And you've the nerve to bring him here!" Ben stared at him in fear. He was like Granda when he said nasty things about Mam.

"Call the others out here," the woman said. "This is too good to miss. A fucking Death Eater loose and bringin' his whole family here-"

The man started towards the door, and Harry grabbed him.

"No! Please, don't say anything about the boy, he's-"

"This bastard was supposed to be gone for good," said the man, "not living his life as if nothing happened-"

"He served his time!" Harry said.

"He should still be in there! Two of me cousins are dead because of him! And now he's bringing up a new one? Bloody right I'm going to let everyone know!" the man's hand was on the doorknob now, the woman right behind him.

"Obliviate!" Dad had waved his wand, so quickly Ben hadn't seen him do it, and the man and woman looked stunned, then puzzled.

"DRACO!"

Nobody was moving. The couple who'd been yelling at Dad were standing still and looking confused, and Harry and Dad were both breathing hard as if they'd been running.

"Oh my god Draco what've you done..." Harry whispered, covering his mouth with his hand.

Dad looked even paler, and waved his wand again and muttered something. Harry grabbed him.

"What the _hell_ are you doing?!"

"Calling the Aurors," Dad said, sounding very grim, and giving Ben a look. "No, don't stop me. It's the only chance I've got, they watch my wand, they're probably on their way already and-"

Then there were two loud POPs and two more men in the alley, running towards Dad and grabbing his wand and talking very fast, and the fat one was holding a wand on Dad and the thin man grabbed Dad, and Dad looked like he was in pain.

"DAD!!"

"Ben, don't!" Dad said sternly. "Step back!"

"You called us, sir, thank you-" the fat man said to Harry.

"No! No, I didn't call you, he did!" Harry said quickly, putting his hands out and speaking very quickly. "I saw the whole thing, he didn't - he didn't start anything, he was just protecting-"

"Sir, he's-"

"I know who he is," Harry said, and took off his amulet. Ben blinked as Harry's hair darkened and eyes lightened and Harry's face became his own again, with its familiar scar.

"Harry! NO!" Dad said.

"Shut up!" Harry said to Dad before turning back to the fat man. "I was here. That man accosted Malfoy, then threatened to harm Malfoy's son. Malfoy was just protecting his son, he called you here himself, he's not a threat-"

"Mr. Potter, you don't understand, he's no supposed to-"

"Of course he's not supposed to, but he was only acting to protect his son. He tried to get out of the confrontation, didn't even react when the woman spat on him-"

"He's just getting what he deserves," the thin man said, glaring at Dad, and Ben had never seen his Dad so white in his life. He was staring at the ground, lips pressed together, and Ben started to panic. Dad was scared. Dad was scared, and Dad shouldn't be scared, and Ben didn't understand _any_ of it.

"Why? Because of what he did when he was a child?" Harry said angrily, and Dad shook his head urgently. Why wasn't Dad saying anything? Why was he just letting people say nasty things about him? Why was he letting them say that he deserved to have some mean woman spit at him?

"Maybe you'd feel differently if you'd seen what I've seen, sir," the thin man said, "but me brother was almost killed by-"

"Are you saying I wouldn't feel much sympathy for Death Eaters if I had lost someone I loved because of them?" Harry asked, and his voice was suddenly very quiet.

The thin man looked a bit scared. "No. No, of course not, sir, but-"

"Look, let him go-"

"We've no the authority to do that, sir," the fat man said calmly. "Any breach of his parole sends him right back to Azkaban. He knows that."

"But not permanently," Harry said. "I'll vouch for him. He didn't have much of a choice."

"He'll have to come with us anyway."

And then Ben was losing the thread of the argument, and the men were talking over one another and Dad wasn't saying a word. Ben drew closer to Dad, and the thin man pulled Dad back.

"Please," Dad said, breaking his silence. "He's frightened."

"Let Malfoy go," Harry said. "He won't bolt. He could've Apparated out of here if he was going to run. He was just trying to protect his child."

"He wasn't looking out for the kid's safety," said the thin man. "He just didn't want them to tell his kid what kind of scum he is."

"That's true," said Dad. "Partly."

Harry looked at Dad in disbelief.

"Harry, they're going to question me about everything under Veritaserum," Dad said heavily. "Including my motives."

"Finally learned the value of being honest, did ye?" said the thin man.

"Sir, please," Dad said to the fat man.

"Let him go," the fat man said, and the thin man let go of Dad. Ben ran to him, and Dad knelt down, holding Ben close. Ben could feel Dad's heart beating very fast.

"What's going to happen, Dad?"

"I don't know, Ben," Dad whispered.

Ben held on as the men argued over his head, and Dad was holding him a little too tight, but that was OK. More people popped in and out, somebody came to take the stunned witch and wizard away, a nice witch appeared and brought Alec to Ben and Dad, and there were so many words. Oblivate, excuses, Azkadan, minor infrashun, and handling the children, and Ben didn't understand any of it.

Finally everyone was done talking. The fat man turned to Dad. "Sir, you'll have to-"

"No - please, not in front of my son."

"I'm sorry, sir," the fat man said. He glanced at Ben. "You know he won't remember anyway," he said kindly to Dad.

Dad had tears in his eyes, and that was more frightening than anything could possibly be. Dad didn't cry. Dads just _didn't_. Except for the time Ben had made a chair move by itself. Dad had tears in his eyes then, but then he looked happy. This time, he didn't. He stood up, still holding Ben, and turned to Harry.

"Harry-"

"I'll take care of him," Harry said. "And you'll be home soon. D'you want me to take him to Kara, or should I-"

"God, I don't know," Dad said, hugging Ben more tightly.

"Come on," said the thin man impatiently.

"Let him be," the fat man said. "He's coming soon enough. Let him say goodbye."

"Kara's not even in Dublin this weekend," said Dad. "I don't know where she is."

"I'll figure something out," said Harry. "He'll be all right. You'll be back soon."

Dad nodded, and now Harry had tears in his eyes too. "Don't worry. I'll take care of him," Harry said again, and came closer, holding out his arms for Ben. Dad passed Ben to Harry, and Ben wanted to hold on, but the fat man gently peeled his hands away from Dad. Ben started to cry, and felt Harry's arms tighten around him.

"Ben," Dad said gently. "Benny. You need to listen to me for a minute." Ben tried to stop crying and Dad gave him a small smile. "I'm going to be gone for a while."

"How long?"

"Not very long, I hope," Dad said, his voice shaking a bit. "Hopefully I'll be home soon. But right now I'm going to have to go, and you and Alec are going to have to listen to this man for a few minutes. Trust me, it'll all be a lot less scary if you listen to him. All right? Be big boys for us."

"OK, Dad," Ben said, and tried to not start crying again.

"Ben," said the fat man kindly. "I want you and Alec to listen to me really closely, all right?"

And the man had a nice voice. A nice, pleasant voice, although not like Dad's. Reassuring him about Dad. Telling him everything was going to be OK.

And it would be, Ben realized. It was a bit sad that Dad had got sick and had to go to the hospital, but he would get better, hopefully soon. Harry was going to take Ben to Mam, and he'd stay with her until Dad was better. It was just too bad that Ben wouldn't be able to visit Dad at the hospital because Dad was kintayjus.

There was a small pop, and Ben blinked, confused. He looked up at Harry.

"Can we go to me Mam now?" he asked, and wondered why Harry looked so sad.

"Yeah, Ben, I'll take you to her soon. But you'll have to stay with me and Alec until she's back in Dublin."

"Is this Brigid's Cross?" Ben said, looking around.

"Yeah," Harry said.

"Can we go see the shops one day? Dad said he'd take me," said Ben. "Only..." he frowned, a bit confused. "Only he got sick."

Harry sighed and gave him a hug.

"Maybe we can come back when Dad's better?"

"Maybe," Harry said, and his voice sounded funny. "Now, we're going to take the Floo to Ron and Hermione's. They're expecting us for dinner. D'you remember the baby in the bubble?"

Ben nodded.

"Well he's not in a bubble any more, but he's still very small. Do you want to meet him?"

"Sure!" said Ben. And he held Harry's hand as Harry led him and Alec to the Floo.

**ooo000ooo**

**Author's Note:** The songs mentioned in the music store are Pachelbel Canon in D, Beati Quorum Via, by Sir Charles Villiers Stanford, Miserere Mei, Deus, by Gregorio Allegri, and Requiem: Lacrymosa, by Mozart. Lyrics and downloadable files can be found on the Ember to Ember lyrics page on livejournal, along with other songs mentioned in the story.

The lyrics page is here (remember to take out the spaces and change all "dots" to periods and "slash" to slash signs, since fanfiction dot net does not allow URLs to be posted).

annafugazzi dot livejournal dot com slash 55489 dot html


	5. September

All right, after a bit of a delay, we are now at September of Ember to Ember (hee - I made a rhyme!), the sequel to Volunteers (fic written for **hdsbeltane**). As always, I welcome suggestions and concrit.

**scrtkpr**, you rock like a chair. Or a boat. Or some rocking thing :)

**ooo000ooo**

**Date:** September 16  
**From:** malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpottergringotts.wz  
I'm home.

**ooo000ooo**

September 16

Draco idly regarded his reflection in the mirror as he brushed his teeth. Not bad. Thinner and looking tired - six weeks' incarceration and twenty-five hours awake could do that to you - but otherwise he didn't look nearly as haggard as he'd thought he might.

He ran his fingers over the mirror, noting its pristine condition distantly. He was fairly sure he hadn't done a cleaning spell the morning they'd left for Brigid's Cross six weeks ago; must've been Harry, then. There were other signs of Harry's presence in the flat. It was comforting, Draco supposed.

There were probably things he could and should be doing, things he should be thinking or worrying about, but for right now all he could handle were the basics. He'd showered, most importantly. Changed clothes, put on something clean and comfortable and _his_. Bought some food from the all-night store. Sent Harry an e-mail. And there wasn't really anything else to do, not at this godforsaken hour of the morning.

He sat down, turned on the telly. It worked, which was nice. He'd more or less expected Harry would somehow ensure the basics of his life were taken care of during his absence - rent, heat, electricity - but Harry didn't live in the Muggle world, so he'd really had no idea what he'd be coming home to.

Oh good, a re-run of Mastermind. Dull enough; perfect. He closed his eyes, drifting off almost immediately.

He woke up suddenly to the clanging of his cell door as the guards opened it for lunch.

No, not clanging. Knocking. Somebody was knocking at his door. He tried to ignore the pounding of his heart, pulled himself upright, and stumbled to the front door.

Harry.

They stared at each other for a moment before Harry gave him a tentative smile.

"Can I come in?"

Draco stepped back automatically, letting Harry into his home.

"I got your e-mail. Are you all right? When did you get in?"

"What time is it?" Draco asked, and his voice sounded hoarse from disuse.

"Seven. I got your e-mail half an hour ago. Would've got here sooner, but Alec-"

"I only got home two hours ago myself."

Harry frowned. "You were supposed to be released yesterday."

"I was. At 11:59."

"Bastards."

Draco shrugged, going into the kitchen. "D'you want tea, or-"

"Sure, thanks. You look exhausted. You were traveling all night then?"

"Pretty much."

"How did you get home?"

"They dropped me off in the Shetlands. I had to trade sexual favours for Portkeys to Ireland."

Harry blinked.

"Merlin, Harry, I'm joking," Draco said, annoyed. He found his Muggle kettle and plugged it in. "They only let me use a Portkey to Uisneach Hill, but they did leave me my wallet and credit cards." Mental note, he thought to himself: Do not attempt humour again this morning.

"God, I'm sorry. I asked them to give me notice when you were released, but-"

"Why would they?"

"I've been involved in your case. A lot." He paused. "I'm sorry," he said nervously. "I know you didn't want anybody to know about us, but I had to-"

Draco nodded resignedly and got out two teacups. "It's all right. I had to tell the Aurors during my questioning anyway." He got out the tea. "Would've had to tell them anyway at my semi-annual. Which was supposed to happen sometime this month."

"Nobody appears to have let anything slip to the press, for whatever that's worth," Harry said carefully.

"Good."

"How much do you know about what was going on outside?"

"Nothing. They don't tell inmates anything, Harry. It's not Muggle prison."

Harry nodded. "I, erm, I got in contact with Kara when she got back in town," he said. "Told her you were in the hospital. She took Ben, except for a few weekends when she was working - I offered, by the way, she didn't ask. He's all right, although he's missed you. I contacted your work, told them about your 'illness.' You've only missed the first two weeks of term; they said it was all right. Paid your bills - the ones I knew about, sorry I didn't know your bank account information but-"

"Where's Ben now?" Draco interrupted.

"He's with Kara. They should be up - d'you want me to call them?"

Draco shook his head, feeling numb. "Kara sleeps till nine most mornings."

"She wouldn't mind, I'm sure."

"Hospital patients aren't released first thing in the morning."

Harry nodded. "We didn't know when you'd be back, they wouldn't tell us anything other than you were being released yesterday, but we-"

"Who's we?"

"Erm. Hermione, actually." Harry bit his lip. "She, erm. She's been involved in a lot of this. She's good at officialese and administration and a lot of things that rather baffle me."

Draco nodded and poured their teas.

"So. Erm." Harry seemed to take heart from the fact that Draco hadn't reacted badly, and Draco wondered if Harry had any clue just how little it concerned him that Hermione Granger had been involved in his affairs.

Probably not.

"So, I've told Hermione you're back, and it's all been arranged; she's going to pick up Ben from school at noon and bring him here. Kara and the school have been told something - forget what, Hermione'll know - so she won't worry." Harry stopped. "Does that... is that all right?"

"Yeah, sounds good," Draco said, glancing at the clock. Noon. Five hours from now. Maybe he could sleep before then.

"How... are you feeling?" Harry asked tentatively, and Draco was struck by the fact that, for the umpteenth time since they'd come back into contact, they seemed completely unable to figure out how to act towards each other. Funny how they seemed to keep coming back here.

What now? Should they touch? Clasp hands? Hug? Kiss?

He supposed most people coming back from being incarcerated would greet their significant other with a bit more effusiveness, but then again most people welcoming back their significant other would also be a bit more effusive...wouldn't they?

He had no idea. And he didn't know what he wanted, either. But from the hesitant way Harry was acting, he probably wanted Draco to initiate... assuming he still wanted anything to happen. He reached out a hand and Harry immediately came into his arms, holding Draco close and sighing deeply. Draco closed his eyes, trying to ignore his slight discomfort and numbness.

Harry kissed him, then drew back, touching his cheek lightly. "You'll be keeping the beard?"

"I can't do magic," Draco reminded him quietly. "Without it you can see my scar from the war, and I don't want to explain why I suddenly have a facial scar when I've supposedly been in hospital for six weeks."

Harry nodded. "I like it," he said. He gently pulled Draco close again, and Draco let him, too tired to really do anything else. He met Harry's mouth with his, closing his eyes at the familiarity of Harry's lips and scent, the warmth of another human being.

It was as though words didn't fit here. And he didn't have any; he'd spent six weeks not speaking, and it was too difficult, with no sleep, and disoriented as hell, to figure out what to say.

They moved to the bedroom with a kind of sleepwalking inevitability, and he lay back on the bed, pulling Harry close. Harry slowly kissed him, moving down his neck. Draco sighed, closing his eyes. Harry was being so gentle with him... and Merlin, this wasn't what he'd expected. He'd thought about this so much - there was little else to do in Azkaban - and he'd pictured angry sex, working out their frustrations; desperate sex, after six weeks without; awkward sex... nothing like this.

He felt so... brittle. Nobody had touched him in six weeks; Azkaban inmates were untouchables, manipulated solely by magic. No warm hand in his, no fingers running through his hair, no hugs from Ben, nothing. As though he was too lowly to touch.

Harry's touch felt odd, at once alien and soothing. As if he were trying to take away the stamp of Azkaban. Wordlessly running hands and lips and tongue all over Draco's body slowly, caressing him gently, holding him close. And Draco wasn't just grabbing whatever he could of Harry, as he'd often fantasized about at Azkaban. He was letting the long strands of Harry's hair spill through his fingers, noticing how the low lamplight made the silver through the jet black shimmer. Feeling Harry's chest rise and fall, tasting the hollow at the base of his neck again. Looking into his eyes and wishing he wasn't so fucking sleep-deprived, wishing he could somehow connect, somehow feel _real_...

He lay back, parting his thighs and wordlessly showing Harry what he wanted, and Harry's eyebrows went up, but he nodded. And when, a long time later, Harry gently entered him, it all felt so surreal. The newness of the sensations, the cleanliness of his skin, the scent of soap and fresh sheets, the softness of the bed, the warmth of another human being moving over and in him...

They were almost silent, moving with one another, and he had no idea what Harry was thinking, as Harry laced their fingers together and kissed him as deeply as he could considering their position. Draco blinked slowly, wondering at the dreamlike peace even as they reached for completion. He closed his eyes and dropped his head back on the pillow as the pleasure crested, and it was an oddly muted shiver and release, so different from the sharpness of climax he was used to with Harry. He felt Harry's lips on his neck for a moment before Harry gasped and tightened his hold on Draco, shuddering slightly and biting back a muffled cry.

They kissed slowly, and Harry's hand on his cheek felt warm and comforting. Harry gently disengaged, and they lay together, their breathing slowing down, Harry's fingers idly playing through Draco's hair.

"Go to sleep," Harry whispered. "Ben'll be here at noon."

"Yeah," Draco said numbly, and watched as Harry dropped into sleep. He was always either ridiculously energized or worn out after sex.

Draco didn't sleep. He'd been awake for so long it felt as though he'd forgotten how. Instead, he watched Harry sleep, looked around his bedroom, reminded himself that he was home. Really home. Where he'd half-believed he would never be again. After so many years of seeing Azkaban in his occasional nightmares, the reality of it was so familiar that some days he'd had trouble believing that he'd ever been out. It seemed like his life outside had been the dream, and Azkaban his only reality.

His first day back at Azkaban, he'd nervously entered the courtyard where the inmates were allowed to congregate during lunch, dreading his parents' reactions. Father had just looked resigned and tired when he spotted Draco. Mother had smiled at him vaguely at first, then done what would have been a comical double-take in any other setting and fainted dead away. Father hadn't bothered to go to her; the guards were already disdainfully levitating her and taking her away.

"You're back," Father had said, his voice hoarse and weary.

"Not for long," he'd replied.

"What happened?"

"I violated my parole."

"Why?"

"To protect somebody."

"I see." Father didn't seem overly interested. "How long will you be here, then?"

"Six weeks."

Father nodded. "That's not long. Then you're out again?"

"Yes. Can't use magic for another three months, though."

"That's not bad."

"No, it's not." He paused. "Will Mother be all right?"

Father shrugged. "I don't know. She's not well these days. We don't talk much."

That had been an understatement, Draco had found. In fact, it had been almost impossible to talk to either of his parents. They'd spent most of their free hours in the courtyard sitting silently, watching the other inmates. Not a terribly interesting bunch. And half the time, Mother wasn't even there; apparently Draco's presence upset her, so she stayed in her cell.

"Why didn't you ever write back?" he'd asked Father once.

Father raised his eyebrows. "There was nothing to write about."

"Really."

Father shrugged. "The rats were particularly vicious the winter you were released. Your mother's robes got a hole at the back, and the guards refused to change or fix them. She spent every free outside hour leaning against the wall. Did you wish to hear about that?"

"You could've said something about what I was doing."

"Such as?"

Draco shrugged wearily. "I don't know. Anything. 'I'm sorry it's hard to live in the Muggle world. I'm proud of you for trying to make something of yourself. You can do it.'"

"I was sorry. I was proud. And I..." his father paused, frowning slightly. "I had faith in you, I suppose."

Draco looked away. "Why couldn't you write any of that?"

Father sat silently for a long time. "This place... this isn't any better than death," he said slowly. "You have a chance at a life. Your mother and I didn't want you to spend the rest of your days thinking of yourself as part of a family that was mostly incarcerated. We wanted you to start anew, as much as you could. When you wrote that you were trying to make your way in the Muggle world, there was nothing that we could say to help you. We had no advice for you. We had nothing to give you other than a tie to something that wasn't going to help you. Better to cut you off than have you holding on to something that would be of no use to you."

"I have a son," Draco had said then. His father paused, surprise breaking through his weary indifference. Draco was somewhat surprised at himself.

"What?"

"His name is Ben. He's five. You're a grandfather."

Father stared at him.

"Do you want to know anything else about him?"

A cautious nod.

"He's very talkative. Very friendly. Does fairly well at school, though he's a bit restless. He has some magic; not sure how much yet. Although..." Draco had realized something. "He did Apparate spontaneously, so I suppose it's quite likely that he'll go to Hogwarts."

Father nodded again.

"He's very musical. Has a beautiful voice; his mother's a singer."

"I thought you were gay," Father commented.

"I am. And his mother's a lesbian. It's a long story."

"Is she anybody I knew?"

Draco shook his head. "She's a Muggle."

Father had merely nodded, and they'd lapsed back into silence.

**ooo000ooo**

Time seemed to be moving in fits and starts today. It seemed as though he'd sat watching Harry sleep and thinking of Azkaban for days before Granger had shown up with Ben at noon. Then there had been a whirlwind of activity as Ben had run to hug him and cried happy tears and talked a mile a minute and Draco held him, closing his eyes and breathing in Ben's little-boy smell of dirt and finger-paint. Granger, who seemed to have become quite familiar with Ben, bustled about getting him some scones with raspberry jam, the type he liked the most, as Harry put Ben's things away. And there was too much movement, too much sound, too much colour, after the drab monotony of Azkaban.

Now Harry and Granger were leaving, at Draco's request. Harry pulled Draco into the front hall.

"This is for safety," Harry said as he gave Draco a small silver charm shaped like a stag, speaking softly so Ben wouldn't hear them. "Hermione arranged it with the Aurors. Since you're not allowed to do magic to defend yourself, you can carry this with you - in your pocket, on a chain, whatever you want - and whenever you tap it, it summons your emergency contact. That's me. Use it any time; if you tap it twice that means it's an emergency; otherwise, it just means you want to see me. I'll Apparate wherever you are."

Draco nodded.

"Are you sure you don't want me here?" Harry asked worriedly.

"I'm sure."

Harry put an arm around him, kissing him gently. Another time he might have been irritated at this excessive solicitousness, but right now he was just ridiculously grateful. Ben continued chattering happily to Granger in the kitchen, oblivious.

Draco took a deep breath and came back into the kitchen after they left, wondering if what he was about to do was wise. He should probably sleep on it. Then again, if he did, he'd probably convince himself he shouldn't do it at all...

He stirred his tea and glanced over his mail as Ben ate his scones and kept talking. About his mum, about Alec and Harry, school, everything and anything. How many times had they sat like this while he went over work-related things and Ben ate and nattered on? Probably hundreds. The difference being that right now Ben was over the moon, and Draco couldn't remember ever being more exhausted.

"Jason really likes scones too," Ben was saying happily, and Draco smiled, still somewhat bemused. Harry and Granger had exchanged a nervous look when Ben had brought up Jason Weasley, shortly after they'd arrived.

"Erm." Harry had cleared his throat. "Ben's been with the Weasleys a few times," he'd blurted out apologetically. "We'd been invited to dinner the day you left and... and we got there before the party and I didn't know if you'd approve, but Ben wanted to meet other wizard kids, and-"

"Harry was going to just go before anybody else got there," Granger had said, "but that would've meant Alec would miss out on some things he'd been looking forward to, or he'd do them without Harry, so I thought..."

Draco had waved off their apologies. Considering where he'd been, seeing Ben happy and safe far outweighed any concern over whom he might have been with.

"You had fun with Alec's cousins, did you?" Draco asked him now, and Ben nodded enthusiastically, bits of scone dropping as he opened his mouth to talk. Draco gently closed his son's bottom lip, and Ben obediently finished chewing and swallowing.

"Oh yeah. They were brilliant! I've never seen so many people with ginger hair, like Alec! D'you remember that film with the clone soldiers?"

Draco frowned, puzzled, then remembered. Ah yes. Star Warring. A Muggle film he'd felt was particularly objectionable for a five-year-old; one of the only parenting topics he and Kara had fought about.

"They _all_ look like Alec, except for maybe three of them. And two of the little ones even look _exactly_ the same! Their da said he couldn't tell them apart either and it didn't matter anyway." He paused. "Or maybe it was their uncle that said that."

Draco smiled.

"There was only one girl," Ben said. "She tried to trick me into eating some sweets that exploded, and her da got really upset. Or maybe it was her uncle. I'm not sure. Anyway he said that was no way to treat a guest and she didn't get any pudding."

Draco took a deep breath. All right, enough delaying. "Ben, there's a few things I need to tell you about," he began, as Ben clumsily loaded more jam onto his scone.

"About what?"

"About me being gone so long. And about why I won't be able to do magic for a few months."

"You're all better now, right?" Ben asked, giving him a slightly worried glance.

"Yes, I'm fine. I have to tell you, though." He took a deep breath. "I wasn't at the hospital, Ben. You were told that so that you wouldn't worry about me, but I wasn't at the hospital." Ben frowned. "I didn't really get sick."

"Yeah, you did," Ben said slowly. "You went green and had to lie down."

"D'you remember I told you once that some magic can change memories?"

"Yeah?"

"That's what we did to you. I know you remember an ambulance and all that, but that memory's not real."

"What?" Ben frowned, confused. "What really happened?"

"Some people were going to harm you, and I used magic I wasn't supposed to use to defend you."

"Did it work?"

"Yes. But I went to prison."

Ben's eyes widened. "Why didn't _they_ get put in prison?" he asked indignantly.

"Because they weren't going to hit you or hex you or anything like that. They... they were going to tell people that I was your father, and I was afraid of what would happen if they did that."

Now Ben looked completely lost. "How could that hurt me?"

"Ben..." He paused. "I don't want anybody to know whose son you are," he said carefully. "I... I don't want anybody to hurt you or hate you because of who I am."

"But... why would they?"

He took a deep breath. "D'you remember Alec told you about a bad man who started a war in the wizarding world?"

"Yeah!" Ben nodded enthusiastically. "And his mum and dad were heroes!"

Draco nodded. "Harry's a really big hero. The whole wizarding world knows him; he's the one who beat the bad man. If he wanted to, he could be Minister for Magic or something like that. Instead, he just wants to live a quiet life with Alec. He doesn't want Alec to have people fuss over him because of who his father is."

Ben blinked. "Really? How come Alec never told me that?"

Draco smiled slightly. "Alec doesn't know just how famous his dad is, Ben." He cleared his throat. "I'm sort of famous too. Not nearly as much as Harry, but a lot of people know who I am. But I wasn't a hero, like Alec's mum and dad. I wish I had been, but... remember you asked me why I lived in the Muggle world?"

Ben nodded.

"It's because I was kicked out of the wizarding world."

Ben's mouth dropped open in shock. "What? Why?!"

"During the war, my family was on the side of the bad man Harry fought. Remember he wanted purebloods to rule everything? My parents were purebloods. They believed in that man, and they helped him." He took another deep breath and briefly wondered if he'd ever in his life done anything as difficult as this. "And so did I. I believed what he said. I don't any more, but I did then."

Merlin, there couldn't be anything as painful as looking into your child's eyes and seeing what he was seeing in Ben's. "What... what did you do?" Ben asked, his voice very small.

"A lot of things. I helped the bad man's supporters get into Hogwarts, and a lot of people got hurt. Did you meet Alec's uncle with the scars?"

"Yeah! He looks scary but he's really nice. And he's married to a really pretty lady."

"One of the people I let into the school was a werewolf, and he almost killed Alec's uncle. I... I didn't know there would be a werewolf there. But I would've let him in anyway."

"But _why_?"

"Because the bad man had threatened me and my parents, and because I believed in him. I was scared of him, but I still thought he was right." He looked down, unable to face Ben's bewildered eyes. "And because of that, I was put in prison for nine months, and then I couldn't do magic for three more years."

"But... how could you believe in the bad man?"

"I thought it was the right thing to do, at the time," he said, cursing the unsteadiness of his voice. "My parents raised me to believe what the bad man said, to believe that people like you were no good for the wizarding world. People like Harry and Hermione too. And our family was very rich, and very powerful and respected, so I thought we were right."

"Are they still powerful?"

"No. My parents lost everything. You know how you asked where my parents are now? They're... they're in prison. And there's still people who remember we did all that, and they don't want me back. Like the people who made me angry and scared the day I was arrested."

Ben frowned. "But... why did they want to hurt me?"

"Because you're my son. Because my family did a lot of bad things, and they were afraid that I was going to raise you to be the same way. To believe the same things."

Ben gaped at him.

"Ben, I don't want anybody to know you're my son. It's why I had you wear an amulet that day we went to Brigid's Cross. You can't tell anybody. It's not because I'm ashamed of you. It's because I'm ashamed of myself."

And it struck Draco, viscerally, as soon as he'd said it out loud, that he meant it. He'd thought about what to say for weeks and had settled on this as the easiest way for Ben to understand, even if it was somewhat inaccurate. But now... now that he'd said the words, he realized how true they were. That he felt exactly that: shame. Shame at his Mark, at the beliefs he'd espoused, at the harm he'd done. At the humiliation of having had his first wand snapped in front of him, being caged like an animal, being exiled because his world didn't want him any more. Living the rest of his life as a dangerous criminal, watched over by parole officers because he couldn't be trusted to behave himself. His childhood home sold, his heritage destroyed. His family of birth still incarcerated, his mother half-insane, his father a shell of what he'd once been.

He blinked, realizing his eyes were filling and his throat was tightening up. Made himself continue, forcing calmness into his voice. "People still remember me and my family, and what we did. You can't-"

"Why can't you put on an amulet? So they won't recognize you?"

"It's part of my punishment. You know my tattoo? That's called a Dark Mark, and it shows I was a follower of the bad man. Everybody with that tattoo was given the same sentence; none of us are allowed to hide who we are."

"But - but Mam got rid of her tattoo when she didn't like Linda any more-"

"It's not like a Muggle tattoo, Ben. It's magic, and it's permanent. And my punishment for having it is that for the rest of my life, if I go to the wizarding world, I have to risk having people treat me badly, or yell at me, or even spit on me. If they hit me or hex me, I can defend myself, or leave. But they can do just about anything else. They can tell me they don't want me in their stores or restaurants, they can be rude to me, and I can't do anything about it. For the rest of my life."

Ben's face darkened and he scowled. "I don't want to go back there, then!" he said vehemently, and Draco's composure started to falter.

"N-no," he said, his voice shaking. "Ben, don't say that. You didn't do anything wrong. It's not your fault. I just don't want anybody to know-"

"But-"

"It's _not your fault_. What I did doesn't have anything to do with you! It has to do with the Malfoy family, and you're _not_ one of us!"

"But..." Ben was looking so bloody lost.

"I'm sorry," Draco said, desperately holding back the sobs that threatened to break out at the anger and hurt and confusion in Ben's eyes. "I'm so sorry. I wish... if I could go back in time I would change all of that. But I can't."

Bloody hell. Nine months in prison, three years without magic, three more years of living only in the Muggle world, and a renewed incarceration hadn't done it. He'd mouthed the words so many times: I'm sorry, I regret my actions, I accept that what I did was wrong; said all of that to the Aurors, the Wizengamot, the guards, and his parole officers. He'd even believed them, to a certain extent. But it was only here, facing Ben, that they finally hit home. That he finally realized he regretted his past more than he'd ever thought possible. Regretted not being who his son thought he was. Regretted his actions, his thoughts, his existence before Ben was born. Regretted all of it.

This little half-blood boy, who was so loving and intelligent, so gentle and protective of others - this incredible little person who'd taken over Draco's life completely, was exactly the kind of person he would've despised before the war. Just as stupidly as Ben's Muggle grandfather despised him now, for things Ben had no control over, the colour of his skin and the sexual orientation of his parents. His son, this amazing little boy, would have been worthless to him back then. And there was no way to make that any better, no justification for it.

And there wasn't any point in trying to hold back his sorrow, because he couldn't any more.

"Ben-" he choked out as the tears started to flow freely, and Ben's eyes widened as he slid off his chair. Draco tried to turn away but Ben climbed into his lap and hugged him, and Draco quickly pressed the small stag-charm in his pocket.

Harry was in his kitchen in an instant. Draco tried to gently push Ben away. "Please, Ben, go with Harry, all right? I'll - I'll be all right in a minute-"

Ben held on tighter, and it was no use; Draco couldn't get away, couldn't stop crying, couldn't do anything. God.

Harry knelt down next to the chair and put his arms around them both, murmuring something Draco couldn't hear over his own sobs. Draco finally let himself relax into his embrace, and let go.


	6. October

It's back!

After weeks of being mostly computerless, I'm finally finally finally able to post again!

So. We are now at October of Ember to Ember, the sequel to Volunteers (fic written for **hdsbeltane**). The next chapter will be up in a couple days. Sadly, I doubt I will be able to get caught up before Christmas; I totally wanted to post the December chapter on the actual date (because I don't know if anybody's noticed, but this story is supposed to be taking place in 2007-2008) but between RL and e-woes, I think that would probably kill me. And my beta.

**scrtkpr**, you are totally my hero. Heroine. Heroin? One of those, anyway ;)

**Title:** Ember to Ember  
**Chapter:** 6 (of 12)  
**Pairing:** H/D  
**Word count:** 5000.

**ooo000ooo**

**Date:** October 15  
**From:** malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpottergringotts.wz  
Contrary to what my replacement director told the kids, they _do_ have show up two hours before the concert. The sopranos are still a complete mess. And yes, I know, it's a miracle they can do the concert at all, and I've refrained from shouting at my replacement.

_**Date:**_ _October 16  
__**From:**__ hjpottergringotts.wz  
__**To:**__ malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
I've got your blue robe. Also: the Weasleys are coming and will be taking Alec out for dinner afterwards. Sorry, I didn't invite them; Alec did._

**Date:** October 17  
**From:** malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpottergringotts.wz  
That'll be a joy.

**ooo000ooo  
October 20**

Alec carefully opened the door of his dad's bedroom and peeked in. Asleep. He tiptoed up to the bed, then paused, watching Daddy and Draco sleeping. Draco looked very peaceful, cuddled up to Daddy with Daddy's arm around him. Not so moody like he did sometimes when he was awake. He'd been moody ever since he'd come back after being away; Daddy said it had been really difficult for Draco at Azkaban, and that they worked hard to make you feel bad there. He looked like maybe he was feeling a bit better now.

Alec watched him for a few moments, noticing that Draco had some sort of drawing on his arm. He squinted and tried to get a good look at it, but Draco's arm was thrown over Daddy's chest and Alec couldn't quite see it. Oh well. He'd have to remember to ask Draco about it when Draco woke up. Right now there were more important things to do.

Alec leaned close to his daddy's ear. "Daddy," he whispered, and Daddy sighed but stayed asleep. "Daddy. Wake up."

Daddy's eyes blinked open and he stared sleepily at Alec.

"Daddy, it's concert day," Alec whispered. "Remember? It's concert day, wake up." He handed Daddy his glasses, and Daddy started to sit up, the sheet falling away from him. Beside him, Draco turned over and kept sleeping.

"You're not wearing anything!" Alec said, puzzled.

"Ah. Erm. No," said Daddy, pulling the sheets up. He cleared his throat and Draco's eyes opened. He started to sit up and Daddy put a hand on his shoulder, gently pushing him back down.

Alec looked over his shoulder. "Daddy, Draco's not wearing anything either," he whispered. Draco stared at Alec for a moment, then quickly turned his back and hid his face in a pillow. Alec could see his shoulders shaking.

"Erm. No, he's not," Daddy said, and Draco made a muffled sound like a snort under the pillow. Daddy gave him a small shove. "Erm, Alec, would you mind coming back in a minute? We'll put something on."

"There's a handy spell for that, actually," Draco said, and his voice sounded a little strange. "_Garbamenta._"

Daddy reached for his wand and muttered the spell, and then they were suddenly both wearing t-shirts.

"Why weren't you wearing anything?" Alec asked.

Daddy cleared his throat. "Erm. Sometimes grownups who like each other a lot go to bed together without clothes," he mumbled, and gave Draco another small shove.

"Did you and Mummy ever do that?"

"Alec, why did you wake me up?"

"It's concert day, Daddy," Alec reminded him patiently. "Remember? You said you'd make special breakfast."

"At…" Daddy peered at the clock. "Six o'clock in the morning?"

Alec blinked.

"Alec, it's… never mind. You can't tell time." Daddy rubbed his eyes. "All right, let's go then."

"I'm going back to sleep," Draco said, yawning, and Alec frowned.

"But you're going to be conducting today," he said. "Aren't you excited?"

Draco chuckled. "I've conducted a lot of concerts, Alec. It's very exciting, but so is sleeping in."

"But I want to practice."

"You know your parts down cold, and most of the other sections' parts as well." Draco yawned, closing his eyes again. "If all choir members were like you, I'd be out of a job."

"Come on, little man, let Draco go back to sleep," Daddy said firmly, getting up. "And let me envy him because he can." Draco laughed and Daddy gave him a quick kiss, then headed towards the kitchen.

"Do you think it'll be exciting being at the concert?" Alec asked.

"Oh, definitely."

"D'you think everybody will like it?"

"I'm sure they will."

"Granddad's really going to like that it's in a Muggle place, right?"

"Yeah," Daddy said, and they grinned at each other as he started the tea brewing. Granddad was so funny about Muggle things.

"D'you think Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione will like it?"

"Absolutely."

Daddy busied himself taking out sausages and eggs and charming the frying pan hot, while Alec got his mug out of the cupboard and carefully filled it with pumpkin juice.

"Daddy."

"Yeah?"

"Do you think it'll be all right that Uncle Fred and Aunt Anne will be there?"

Daddy waved his wand at the eggs to hold them over the sausages until they were brown. "They'll probably be busy making sure your Granddad doesn't do anything silly."

"But d'you think they'll say anything nasty to Draco?"

Daddy sighed and poured himself some tea. "Alec, I don't know. I really don't think so. You saw how they were with Ben when he came to visit; everybody behaved themselves. They'll probably just ignore Draco, if they have to be around him." He waved his wand, turning the sausages over. "Which I doubt they will. You know Draco probably won't go anywhere near them anyway."

"Auntie Hermione told Uncle Fred she would hex him a new one if he said anything rude," said Alec, and looked up, startled, as Daddy choked on his tea.

"She said _what?_"

"That she'd hex him a new one. What new one?"

"Erm." Daddy coughed a few times, his face a bit red. "She, erm… probably a new nose."

"Auntie Hermione's good with hexes," Alec said. "That's what Uncle Ron says."

"He's not wrong."

"Mummy was really good at the Bat Bogey Hex," Alec said proudly, and Daddy smiled. "Uncle Fred said she hexed him a lot of times when they were little."

"Yeah, she did."

Alec watched the eggs slowly rotating over the frying sausages. "Why don't you cook with magic any more when Draco's here?"

Daddy tilted his head to the side and looked at Alec seriously. "Well… it's hard for Draco to not be able to use magic. I don't want to make him feel bad because I can do something he's not allowed to do. Besides, I don't mind cooking by hand. I cooked by hand all the time when I was little."

"Draco feels bad about a lot of things, doesn't he?"

Daddy gave him a sharp look. "Sometimes, yeah."

"So does Ben. He's sad too."

"Yeah, little man, I know."

"I'd be sad too. If you'd done some of what Draco did." Alec swirled his pumpkin juice around and watched the sausages get browner, their crackling sounding almost like tiny drums. It was so weird, that Draco had done such bad things. When Daddy had told Alec about Voldymort when he was little, Voldymort was the worst bad guy ever, and it was just so strange that somebody who did music could have helped someone like that. "I'm glad Uncle Percy's busy today."

"You and me both," Daddy muttered, then cleared his throat. "I mean, it's too bad, but he's not a big fan of music anyway. Maybe he can come to your next concert."

"I'm really little to be in a choir, right? That's what Draco said."

"Yeah, you are. Especially a choir as good as Draco's. You're lucky Draco let you in."

Alec suddenly frowned. "Daddy, what if people at the concert see Draco with Ben? What if the same thing happens like what happened at Brigid's Cross?"

"It's a Muggle place, Alec. He's not worried about that with Muggles."

Alec nodded, thinking of Brigid's Cross. It was still so confusing to think that he'd lost a whole day of memories there. Daddy had shown him a potion from Brigid's Cross that made it so you could sing more than one note at a time, and Alec and Ben had used it a lot, but Alec didn't remember buying it at all. Daddy had said that was because what had happened there had been really scary for Ben, so they'd got rid of his memories until they could figure out what to tell him. And of course if Ben couldn't keep his memories, Alec couldn't either, because otherwise he'd probably forget not to talk to Ben about what had happened. Daddy had promised to take them back to someplace like Brigid's Cross some day, but it was so strange to have lost an entire day just like that.

And it was so strange that Draco was back, but he was different. He had a beard now, and he wasn't allowed to do magic, and sometimes he was sad. Not crying-sad, but very quiet and serious. And sometimes very grumpy.

"Daddy, why does Draco fight with you sometimes?" Alec asked.

Daddy shrugged. "Sometimes people who are dating or married fight." He flipped over the sausages again.

"D'you think Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione fight?" Alec asked, bringing his daddy a loaf of bread.

Daddy smiled, taking the bread and slicing it. "Possibly."

"I've seen Uncle Fred and Aunt Anne fight sometimes."

"Yeah. It's normal. Even if you love somebody a lot, you don't always agree about everything. But you work it out."

"I don't like it when you argue."

"Nobody likes it, Alec," Daddy said quietly.

"You didn't used to," Alec pointed out. Daddy looked away, getting himself some more tea. "What if you had a really bad fight and you didn't want to be together any more?" Alec asked. "Draco said that once, remember? He said if it's that much of a problem, why don't you leave?"

Daddy picked up a hair-tie and pulled his hair back, staring at the frying sausages as he tied it into a ponytail. "It's hard, sometimes, being with Draco," Daddy said slowly. "There's always some problems when you're dating somebody. But things are a little more difficult for us."

"Is it because of our family?"

"Yeah, that's part of it. And because of the things Draco did. And because of Azkaban." Daddy set a toasting spell on the bread. "He's got a lot of things to deal with."

"What if you didn't want to date him any more? Could I still see him? And Ben?"

Daddy's lips pressed together. "I don't know, little man. I'd like to say yes. But I wouldn't want to promise anything I can't guarantee."

Alec watched the bread slowly turning a light tan colour, and wondered what Ben thought about all of this. Wondered what Ben was doing right now at his mum's house.

"Why does Ben spend so much time at Kara's house?" he asked.

"She's his mum."

"Yeah, but Draco's his dad. Why don't they live together? Everybody else's mums and dads live together."

"Erm…" Daddy thought for a moment. "Well, because Draco and Kara were never married. They're just parents together. They both love Ben and they both take care of him, but they don't want to live together."

"I thought you had to be married to have a baby."

"Erm, well, most people think it's better if you are, but you don't have to be."

"You were."

"Yeah."

"When are you going to marry Draco?"

Daddy gave him a stern look. "We've talked about that, little man, remember? I don't know if we ever will."

"When will you know?"

Daddy blew out his breath and glanced at the clock. "You know, I think maybe Draco's slept long enough. Maybe we should wake him."

"How long does it take before you know if you're going to get married?"

"I don't know," Daddy said, sounding a bit cross. "It depends."

"How long did you and Mummy wait?"

"Three years."

"That's a long time."

"Well, we were pretty young. Most people don't get married as young as we did."

"Why did you then?"

Daddy pushed up his glasses. "Erm. Well, we loved each other, and, erm, you were coming, so we thought we might as well. We'd sort of been planning to do it eventually."

"You got married because I was coming?"

"Not just because of that. We just did it sooner than we would've otherwise."

"If you and Draco were going to have a baby would you get married?"

Daddy's eyes turned very serious. "That couldn't happen," he said firmly. "You know I've told you that you can't have brothers or sisters."

"But if you married Draco, Ben would be my brother, right?"

"I suppose so." Daddy frowned and flipped the sausages over again.

"Well I'm glad Draco and Kara aren't married. Because if they were you couldn't date Draco, could you?"

"No, probably not."

"D'you think Draco and Kara ever go to bed together without any clothes on?" Alec asked, and took a step back as his daddy suddenly choked out a lot of tea and the eggs suspended over the frying pan dropped.

"Oh shite-" Daddy bit his lip and picked up his wand, frowning in concentration as he lifted the eggshells off the pan.

"You shouldn't say that word," Alec told him. "Auntie Hermione gets awfully angry with Uncle Ron when he says it."

"It's a useful word," Daddy muttered, clearing up the mess.

"So do they?" Alec asked. "Go to bed without clothes?"

Daddy was staring at the eggs with a frown. "Alec, that's… erm. No. No, they definitely don't."

"Definitely don't what?" Draco asked, walking into the kitchen yawning.

"Go to bed without clothes on," Alec said, and was puzzled as Draco turned right around and started to leave the kitchen, laughing.

"A little help here would really be appreciated," Daddy called out.

Draco looked over his shoulder. "You seem to be handling it very well on your own," he said, chuckling. Daddy flicked an eggshell at him, and Draco caught it with a smirk. He laughed. "Ooh, I'm not getting any tonight, am I?"

"Getting any what?" Alec asked. Draco smiled brightly at Daddy.

"Erm. Sweets," Daddy said, getting very red.

"What kind of sweets?"

"Special, erm, daddy sweets."

"Good save, Potter," Draco laughed, and left the kitchen.

"Daddy!" Alec realized something. "Now he's awake, d'you think Draco will practice with me?"

"I'm sure he'd be happy to!" Daddy said with a wide smile. "Why don't you go ask him?"

**ooo000ooo**

"Take me somewhere," sang Ben and the sopranos.

"Oh carry me somewhere," Alec and the altos sang in response, and this was such a beautiful song. It made you feel like you were on a ship to somewhere wonderful. Draco had said that it was about going to a place where you belonged, and Daddy had said it reminded him of himself when he was little.

It was so strange that people like Daddy and Ben and Aunt Hermione hadn't grown up in the magical world. How weird.

And it was so cool to stand next to Ben and sing. Much cooler than singing with only the two of them, because they had so many other people singing with them, and Draco was leading them, showing them when to come in, and how loud to sing. Not that Alec needed Draco to tell him any of that, but most of the other kids around him did, even the really big ones. And the parts where you didn't go quite with the beat were tricky for a lot of them. Not for Alec, of course; it was like climbing down a set of stairs. The part where they said _carry me on_ was so easy to sing, like somebody was actually carrying you. Alec let himself be carried along, feeling nothing but the joy of the music, not even aware of anybody around him, until the final key change.

"We'll give you our heart, give you our breathing," Alec and Ben sang, "Give you a ship that could sail Abelard to Eloise."

Alec really liked that part. Abelard and Eloise were famous lovers, Draco had said, whose families disapproved of them and made them be apart, but they stayed in love for the rest of their lives. Then Draco had said something like "Bloody ridiculous Muggle sentimentality," and Daddy had said, chuckling, that Abelard was a wizard, and Eloise a witch. And had laughed when Draco refused to believe him until Daddy brought him a book Aunt Hermione had shown him once.

Alec blinked, startled, as the audience applauded. He'd forgotten somehow that he was on a stage, and he looked at Ben quickly, a little scared. Ben was grinning widely. Draco was happy with them, too. "Good job," he mouthed, smiling at the choir, before giving Ben and Alec a wink and reminding them all to be still and prepare for the next song.

The next song was Suo Gân, which started with Ben's solo. Alec briefly wished he could have a solo like Ben, and see Draco look at him proudly, and the audience smile at him, and his uncles look surprised and pleased, but decided he preferred his own part. It was pretty in its own way, even though a lot of it was just humming while Ben sang.

Ben and the other sopranos' voices went so high, too. It was impossible for Alec to follow them, even if he let himself go squeaky. They sounded like they were soaring off into the air, like on Daddy's broom - but gently, like Daddy flew with Alec so that Alec wouldn't be frightened. Ben didn't get frightened. They'd gone up with Draco and Ben a few times, before Draco had gone away and then couldn't fly any more.

At least Draco still had music. They could take magic away, but nobody could take music away from you.

A cradle song, that's what Draco had said this song was. It sounded like it, too. Especially when Ben sang it; for some reason, Ben really liked babies, even though they sounded awful a lot of the time.

There was a lovely silence after they finished, then a burst of applause, and Alec spotted his family in the audience. They were clapping, Daddy beaming at Alec and Ben, Uncle Fred saying something to Aunt Anne. Grandmum wiping her eyes, Granddad's mouth a little open as he stared at all the Muggles. Then Alec heard the opening notes of the next song and focused on Draco again. He could look for the rest of his family later.

Then suddenly it was intermission, and Alec didn't know how the time could've gone by so fast.

"It's going really well, isn't it?" he asked Ben backstage.

"Yeah," Ben said, grinning. "Dad's pretty happy with the sopranos."

"He didn't say anything to you."

Ben nodded. "That's how you know. If he's not happy, we hear about it."

"All right, kids," Draco said, gathering them all. "The mums are taking kids to the toilets. If you're not going, remember to stay backstage and not wander off."

"D'you have to go?" Ben asked Alec.

"No."

"Everyone under seven goes," Draco said sternly, and Ben and Alec sighed and joined the line of other little boys following the mums to the toilet.

"I saw my family!" Alec said to Ben as they waited, and Ben's mouth turned down. "What?"

"Me Da's not happy about them being here," Ben said.

"Why?"

"They don't like him. I think they should forgive him. Harry did."

"Uncle George did," Alec said, trying to make Ben feel a bit better. "So did Uncle Bill."

"Yeah?"

"I think so. And Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione."

"Dad says some people probably won't ever forgive him."

Alec didn't know what to say to that.

"I don't want to be somewhere where people don't like me Da," Ben said, scowling. "Especially if they don't let him use his magic."

"He said he doesn't mind that so much," Alec said timidly.

"He does too," Ben said, looking angry.

Alec felt awful. "But... he's still got music. I'd rather lose magic than music, wouldn't you?"

Ben's eyes grew huge. "Are you joking?" he asked, and Alec didn't have time to ask him what he meant because just then the toilet was free and one of the choir mums pushed him over to it.

**ooo000ooo**

Hope for Resolution was the last song, and it was one of those wonderful songs that had two totally different types of music, both coming together perfectly. Daddy had said it was from a part of the world where black people and white people didn't get along, and the first part was by whites and the second was by blacks and it was a song of both colours coming together just like the songs did. Just because one had a stronger rhythm and the other had higher notes didn't mean they couldn't get along. Which was true, and especially true for people, because it didn't matter if somebody was white or brown. Ben didn't care. Neither did his dad or his mum.

The first part was solid, like a good solid house, and the sound went up and down and praised God, like building a church, walls, roof, windows, then filling the church with light as the voices chased each other around and around, and it was like beams going in through stained glass windows. Like magic that built on itself, evermore and evermore.

Then it changed, got rhythm, and became a dance. Like the voices were playing, dancing in a circle over and over.

Then the most beautiful part came. The rhythm and dance continued, joined by the church building with its light, all of them building and dancing and filling the auditorium with light, and Ben was singing the church part of the song and Alec was singing the rhythm, and then they switched as the first sopranos took over the rhythm part and soared over the builders, then they switched again, and finally they brought all of the threads of music together. About people who were different, and who hated each other, figuring out how to live together and get along, and dancing in a beautiful building full of music and light.

**ooo000ooo**

"Did you see me?" Alec said as Uncle Fred swooped him up after the concert.

"You were fantastic!" he said, hugging him close. "I'm so proud of you!"

Alec beamed at him. "And I didn't forget a single word!"

Then Grandmum pulled him out of Uncle Fred's arms and hugged him close, crying a little bit. "Your mummy would've been so proud of you, dear," she said, sniffling, and Alec felt warm all the way in. None of them really understood music – not the way he and Draco and Ben understood it – but it still felt wonderful to have them here. And it felt wonderful being in this reception hall after the concert, in the middle of so many people who loved music. It was _brilliant_. Almost _too_ brilliant, but in a wonderful way.

"Your soloist is amazing!" he heard somebody saying behind him. "Any relation to Kara Greely?"

"Her son, actually," said Draco's voice, and Alec turned around to see him, but there were too many people milling about. "You know Kara?"

"Really? Apple's no fallen far from the tree, has it?" the other voice said. "I heard her at the Kaye. Heard she got a contract?"

"Just signed a few months ago, with Windbourne. She has a CD in the works."

A couple moved out of the way. "Draco!" Alec said, finally spotting him.

Draco turned and smiled at him before noticing Alec's family.

"Was I good?" Alec asked, running up to him.

Draco glanced at Daddy. "You were wonderful. Didn't I tell you you'd have no problem?" He patted Alec's shoulder and gave Daddy a nod, turning to go.

"Hello, Malfoy," Uncle Fred said quietly, and Draco looked at him, his face very blank. Alec swallowed hard as he looked from one to the other, hoping they wouldn't fight. Daddy had told him a little bit about why Uncle Fred didn't like Draco, but this was Alec's _concert_. They wouldn't fight right after his concert, would they?

"Very good concert," Granddad said, and he sounded like it was a bit difficult to speak.

Draco nodded. "Thank you."

Ben came running through the crowd, going up to Draco with his mouth open in a wide grin, looking like he was just about to burst out something - and stopped short as he saw Alec's family.

"There's not a lot of really little kids in the choir," said Aunt Demelza, rather stiffly, as Ben drew closer to Draco and took his hand.

"There's not a lot of kids as talented as Alec. Or with as much patience." Draco smiled at Alec, and Alec grinned back.

"All right, erm, it's time to go to the restaurant," said Grandmum, and Daddy took Alec's hand.

"All right, Ben, say goodbye," Draco said, and Alec looked at them, surprised.

"You're not coming to the restaurant?" he said, and Daddy's hand tightened on his.

"Erm, Alec-"

"But... but it's my first concert," said Alec slowly. "And I thought Ben and Draco were going to come to dinner with us too."

Ben shook his head. "That's probably not a good idea," he said quietly, looking at the floor.

Alec frowned. Ben did that sometimes, ever since Draco had come back, acting like he was a lot older than Alec instead of hardly any older at all, and it really made Alec cross. But Ben was also looking sad and everybody was uncomfortable and it was like sour notes landing everywhere and drowning out the memory of the beautiful music. It made Alec wanted to stamp and shout and do all the things his cousin Michelle did when she was angry.

"Alec, we'll see Draco and Ben at home later tonight, all right?" Daddy said quietly. "Right now they're... busy."

Alec glared at him. Daddies were not supposed to lie.

Then Daddy leaned close to Draco and whispered in his ear, and Draco nodded. "Yeah, if he wants to," he said, and took Ben aside, talking to him seriously. Alec's family stood uncomfortably - Uncle George fiddling with his Muggle tie, Granddad peering up at the chandelier with its electric lights, Aunt Anne and Aunt Demelza talking in low voices, making Draco hard for Alec to hear.

Ben shook his head. "No, not without you."

"Ben, please. It's for Alec. And you said you had fun with his fam-"

"That was before I knew," Ben said stubbornly.

Draco sighed. "I won't make you go. But it would mean a lot to Alec."

Ben looked at Alec for a long moment, then nodded.

"Right, well Draco's going to be busy wrapping up the concert, but Ben's coming with us," Daddy said, and everybody smiled in relief.

"Let's go, Ben," said Uncle Ron, and held out a hand to Ben. Draco ran a hand over Ben's dreadlocks and exchanged a quick look with Daddy, then started to head back into the crowd.

"See you, Malfoy," said Uncle George, and Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron nodded at Draco as well.

Daddy took Alec's hand again, walked up to Uncle George and said something Alec couldn't hear. Uncle George shrugged.

"I t-told you the day the family went mental on you, mate," he said. "M-makes no difference to me."

"Thanks anyway," said Daddy, and Alec wondered what they were talking about. But the crowd was still milling about, and he could only hear snippets of conversation from his family.

"We're taking the Floo to the restaurant," Granddad was saying.

"I love traveling by Floo!" said Ben.

"When did Malfoy grow a beard?" Aunt Demelza asked Daddy.

"He can't do magic, and he's got a scar on his jaw," Daddy answered, which didn't answer Aunt Demelza's question at all.

"Oh, so it grew while he was at-"

"Yeah."

"You wouldn't let me g-grow one," said Uncle George to Aunt Demelza.

"I'd rather not kiss fur, thanks," said Aunt Demelza.

"It's not that bad," said Daddy. There were a couple of snickers.

"I t-told you!" Uncle George teased her, and she rolled her eyes.

"Why d'you talk funny?" Ben asked Uncle George.

Uncle George chuckled. "I d-don't talk funny; you hear funny."

"What?"

"It's t-true. Your ears probably s-smell like lemons."

"What?"

"T-true." Uncle George leaned down and sniffed Ben's ear. "Lemons. That's why you hear f-funny."

"My ears don't smell like lemons!" Ben laughed, and looked at Daddy, who grinned at him.

"How do you know they don't?" Aunt Demelza asked Ben.

"Because somebody would've told me if they did!"

"Actually, you're r-right," said Uncle Fred. "They don't both smell like lemons. Only the l-left one does."

Ben blinked at him.

"The r-right one smells like oranges. That's how come you hear me t-talk funny too."

Ben laughed. "No you don't!"

"How d'you know?" asked Uncle Fred. "D'you know everybody else h-hears us talk just fine?"

"All right, how did they get to smell like oranges and lemons, then?" Ben asked.

Uncle George grinned at him approvingly. "Gnomes!"

"V-vengeful gnomes," said Uncle Fred.

Ben laughed, and Alec caught an amused look between Daddy and Aunt Hermione as Uncle Fred and Uncle George's story got weirder and weirder.

"He's a better ambassador to this family than Draco could ever hope for, isn't he?" she said to Daddy, her voice low.

Daddy smiled and nodded, then turned to look behind them, searching the crowd and slowing down. Alec followed his gaze, and saw Draco talking to a couple of women, most probably about the concert. Daddy gazed at him, looking like… Alec couldn't figure it out. Like he was thinking. A little bit sad, maybe. Then he shook himself and turned back, following the rest of the Weasleys as they headed towards the Floo.

**ooo000ooo**

**Author's Note:** The songs Alec and Ben sing in this chapter are Labour of Love, which was mentioned in chapter 3, Suo Gân, and Hope For Resolution. They can be found at the lyrics page. The lyrics page is here (remember to take out the spaces and change all "dots" to periods and "slash" to slash signs, since fanfiction dot net does not allow URLs to be posted).

annafugazzi dot livejournal dot com slash 55489 dot html

It's been fun and challenging to write kid-POVs, but I'm kinda wishing I hadn't planned to do two of them so close together, and I'm very glad there are no more planned for the rest of the story. Two is enough for me :)


	7. November

**Author's Note:** Moving at a brisk pace (for a change), we're now at November of Ember to Ember, the sequel to Volunteers (fic written for **hdsbeltane**). Concrit is warmly appreciated. Thanks hugely to **scrtkpr**, for wonderful beta :)

**ooo000ooo**

**Date:** October 29  
**From:** malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpottergringotts.wzr  
Alec left his Weasley jumper here.

_**Date:**__ November 19  
__**From:**__ hjpottergringotts.wz  
__**To:**__ malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
Are we still on for the movie on Friday? Alec will be at Ron and Hermione's. Also: am I still picking you up Wednesday?_

**Date:** November 19  
**From:** malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpottergringotts.wz  
Yeah, Ben's with Kara on Friday. Don't expect me to be in a great mood Wednesday.

_**Date:**__ November 19  
__**From:**__ hjpottergringotts.wz  
__**To:**__ malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
Don't worry about it. I imagine interrogations are unpleasant._

**Date:** November 20  
**From:** malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpottergringotts.wz  
That and Veritaserum tastes like old socks. Steeped in stale Butterbeer.

_**Date:**__ November 20  
__**From:**__ hjpottergringotts.wz  
__**To:**__ malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
I won't ask how you can recognize the taste._

**Date:** November 20  
**From:** malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpottergringotts.wz  
I think that's how Kara flavours her porridge. The only reason I don't fear for Ben's health is that nothing she makes is actually poisonous, other than aesthetically.

**ooo000ooo  
Friday, November 23**

"All right, all right," George grumbled, as whoever was at the lab door knocked again, loudly and impatiently. "Keep your p-panties on." He flicked his wand distractedly, taking down wards as he went, his mind on Wheezes' newest love charm and his sons' latest escapade. Three years old and they already seriously made him doubt his ability to survive their childhood. He wondered if they would also end up being the driving force for new security products, as their cousin Michelle was, because sheer desperation kept forcing him and Fred to invent new ways to keep her out of their things, and some of those inventions had really proven-

"George! Open up!"

George blew out his breath impatiently, finally opening the door. "I s-said I was-"

Harry stalked in and George backed up automatically. Harry was livid. Waves of fury were rolling off him and George felt a pang of alarm as all the candles in the room wavered a bit and the clock hiccupped.

"Harry?"

"Where the _fuck_ is your brother?"

George frowned. "I'm assuming you m-mean Fred," he said. Harry glared at him. "N-not in my pocket, mate. You've tried his home?"

"First place I went. Also tried Wheezes. He's not there either."

"And you w-want him because..."

"Because he's gone too fucking far this time, and I'm going to strangle him with his own bloody entrails if he doesn't have a _fucking_ good explanation for this." He threw a copy of the Prophet, open to the third page, onto the table.

George looked at it and blanched. Oh shit. There was Harry, blurry and far away but still quite recognizable as himself, walking up to a man in a hooded cloak and kissing him briefly before they both disappeared into a building. The man's face was mostly shadowed by his hood, but he was easily recognizable as Malfoy to anybody who knew who he was supposed to be. "Boy Who Mourned Finds Love At Last?" trilled the headline, followed by a mercifully short and vague reference to Harry being spotted meeting somebody at the entrance to a small store, and brief speculation as to who that somebody might be.

Shit.

George scanned the picture again, re-read the article. "Look, you d-don't know that it was Fred-"

"I was using one of _your_ fucking New Face amulets! The kind that you can only see through if you've got the counter-charm! Whoever took this picture had a camera modified with the counter-charm. Who else could've-"

"Yeah, I figured that part, b-but you know the Aurors have-"

"I was using a new model prototype," Harry said, and tossed a small amulet onto the table next to the paper. "You know, the ones you haven't given the Auror corps counter-charms to, because they're not available to the general public yet?"

George gave a low whistle.

"Fred gave it to me himself," Harry fumed. "Said you'd found the current ones make you queasy if you wear them in the rain. I thought it was awfully decent of him to give it to me, considering he knew I was using them to be with Draco. Bastard!"

George covered his mouth, completely appalled.

"I take it he didn't discuss this with you," Harry said grimly.

"Fuck n-no," George said. He swallowed hard and rubbed his forehead, fighting down the very strong urge to find Fred right now and give him a bloody nose without so much as a Hello first. How the _fuck_ could...

All right, pull back. Harry was angry enough that he didn't need anybody else to fan the flames. George drew a deep breath, re-read the short article. "It doesn't m-mention Malfoy's name," he pointed out in what he hoped was a reasonable tone.

"Yeah. This time!" Harry fumed. "Who the _hell_ does he think-" he cut himself off, shook his head angrily. "So. Where the fuck is he?"

George glanced at the clock. Nine thirty, Friday morning. "P-probably at the Apothecary, or back at the flat," he said, and reached out to grab Harry as Harry started back out the door. "Harry. Wait."

"Let go."

"Wait! Listen-"

"I am not going to fucking well wait! I-"

"You c-can't just-"

"I am _not_ going to let you calm me down and talk me out of telling him exactly what I think of his FUCKING interference-"

"He-"

"'Protecting Alec' and – who the FUCK does he think he-"

"HARRY!" George shouted. "Fucking shut UP!" He took a deep breath. "I'm not g-going to talk you out of anything. I'm j-just going to come with you." Harry glared at him. "To make sure you d-don't kill him. Before I get a chance to d-do it myself."

Harry crossed his arms, somewhat mollified, and waited, tapping his foot, while George put the potion he'd been working on in stasis. He checked the lab to make sure nothing was left in an unstable condition, then got out his MagicMap of Diagon Alley, quickly locating a moving dot with Fred's name on it, in their old flat and current work and storage area. And damn, he had his kids with him too.

"R-right," George said, dousing the bright lab lights. "Our old flat."

_God, Fred, what in buggery have you done,_ George thought dazedly as they Flooed to Diagon Alley. Yeah, he'd said way back in the summer that he wasn't going to let this go, that he was determined to get Malfoy out of Harry and Alec's life... but that had been months ago. And doing it like this, bringing Harry to the attention of the press, was bound to backfire. George hadn't seen Harry this wound up, this _alive_, since before Ginny had died. He was almost levitating from the sheer force of his fury.

Not for the first time, George wondered how he and Fred could've drifted so far apart. Compared to most siblings, even most twins, they were still very close, but they had once been almost like the same person. He had once been able to say with almost one hundred percent accuracy what Fred would think or feel or say or do about everything. But what Fred had done now... George just couldn't get his mind around it. He'd given Harry an amulet, modified a camera to see past its charm, taken a picture of Harry, and sent it in to the sodding _Prophet_. No doubt he'd blurred Malfoy deliberately, both to keep Harry from outright killing him and to make the picture more useful. Intimidating Malfoy into scurrying back into the shadows while there was still a chance of protecting his anonymity.

It was so calculated, and so bloody _cold_.

It just might work, too, George realized. But at what cost to Harry? At what cost to Alec – and to Ben, Malfoy's little kid? How could Fred do something like this to a child? It was just...

Not for the first time, George wished Lucius Malfoy into the deepest bowels of hell. After Malfoy had cursed him, George had spent months fighting pain and disability, learning to move and see and speak again; Fred had spent the entire time helplessly watching, unable to do anything to help his twin, and it had soured something inside him. George couldn't imagine any other reason for him to have gone this far off the deep end. The brother he knew would've railed at the situation between Harry and Malfoy, made obnoxious comments about it, and maybe even contemplated blackmail. But he would never have actually carried it out. Not without the family's support, certainly not by bringing Harry publicity, and absolutely not without even telling George about it beforehand.

Bloody hell.

"So have you t-talked to Malfoy yet?" George asked, more to distract himself from his own depressing thoughts than out of any real curiosity.

"No." Harry ran a hand through his hair. "I doubt he's seen it. He doesn't get the paper; besides it's Friday morning, he's got Choral Ensemble and, erm, Composition, I think. He probably won't see it unless I tell him about it. Fuck, he's going to go mental."

"You're going to tell him, then?"

Harry glared at him. "Of course I am! I'd be a right prat to keep something like this from him, wouldn't I? It concerns him. He deserves to know!"

"Right, right, c-calm down, mate," said George, fighting to not roll his eyes at Harry's excellent imitation of a nesting dragon. "Just asking."

They arrived at Wheezes and hurried through the cheerful crowd and magenta-clad employees, and George realized with annoyance that he'd forgotten his indoor glasses. He grabbed Harry's arm, glad for the excuse to keep hold of him in case he decided to do anything unusually stupid. Harry led them to the back stairs and they started up, with George still trying to figure out how to get Fred's kids out of the way, how to contain the situation, and how to stop himself from beating the shit out of his twin himself. While operating in blurry darkness. Marvellous.

"No it's _not_ funny, Michelle!" Fred's voice came floating down the stairs as George and Harry went up. "Your little brother is scared out of his wits and-"

There was an indistinct sound, presumably from Michelle.

"That was _supposed_ to be a cautionary tale!" Fred said, exasperated. "Not a bl- not a suggestion!" Pause. "Yes, that's wonderful, he won't be scared of spiders – instead he'll be terrified of teddy bears! D'you have any idea how much other kids are going to tease him for having a phobia of _teddy bears_?!"

George suppressed a chuckle.

"No! You are Flooing back home and you will not be back at the shop until your mum says so - and that won't be until you've apologized to your brother!"

The door slammed open and Fred came out, carrying a bag of Apothecary purchases and starting down the stairs. He stopped in surprise as he nearly ran into George and Harry.

"I need to talk to you," Harry said grimly, pushing his way past Fred and into the small flat.

"Sure mate, I'll just go drop off-"

"No. Now."

Fred frowned at Harry, but followed him into the flat and dropped his purchases near the door. "What's got your knickers in a knot?"

Harry shoved the paper at Fred, and Fred's eyes widened as he took in the picture. He looked up at Harry with a frown.

"You think I-"

"_You're_ the one who gave me the prototype amulet, and you knew I was going to meet Draco outside the Broomstick the day before yesterday!" Harry said, his voice tight with rage.

George's stomach did an unpleasant flip. "Wait - the d-day before yesterday?" he asked, and Harry nodded. George and Fred exchanged a glance, and George looked away, schooling his features into blankness.

"Yeah, at the bloody Broomstick," Harry said. "We had dinner at Fred and Anne's last weekend and Alec mentioned me picking up Draco from his debrief in front of the shop. Nobody else knew-"

"All right, fine," Fred said defiantly. "So the paper got a picture of you. So what? I'm sure Ron told you what I said back in the summer-"

"You bloody-"

"I told everybody we should do this. I don't see why you're so upset. The papers've always run bits about you; they'll keep doing it till long after you're dead." Fred shrugged. "Besides, it doesn't actually show Malfoy-"

"This time! Now that the press knows I'm dating someone – and there's Aurors and prison guards and Ministry people who know I'm dating Draco – it's just a matter of time before somebody talks, and-"

"So?" Fred said harshly. "He'll get the idea that he doesn't want the papers to actually show his ugly face next time, and scarper off."

Something in the bag from the Apothecary abruptly blew up in a puff of acrid purple smoke.

"Where the FUCK do you get off deciding that?! You had no fucking right!!"

"If he scares off that easily," Fred said coolly, waving his wand to dispel the smoke, "then he's not exactly worth-"

"You have _no_ idea what he's worth!" Harry shouted at him, and George quickly brought out his own wand to set a containment spell around the remaining Apothecary items. "You've no idea how much he's changed, or what he's like with Alec, or what he thinks about any of what he did - because you've never bothered to ask!! You self-righteous prick!"

"I don't need to ask, Harry! Your boyfriend is a convicted criminal. His record speaks for itself. And if you're going to try to convince me he's reformed, maybe you've forgotten he just spent six weeks in prison, again!" He broke off, coughing. "Now get your fucking magic under control before you blow up anything else!" he snapped at Harry.

Harry whipped out his wand and shoved it at George impatiently. "You know exactly why Draco went to-"

"_Petrificus Totalus_ too complex for him, was it? What about _Protego_? _Muffliato_? D'you honestly believe the only option he had was one of the few spells he's actually not supposed to use?"

"He panicked!"

"And reverted to form!" Fred shot back. "It's when the pressure's on that you see what people are really made of, and your boyfriend is mostly composed of cowardly shite!"

Fred literally didn't see what hit him, as George's instinctive but ill-timed warning shout distracted him and made Harry's punch hit the side of his jaw as opposed to his mouth, Harry's probable target. Fred reeled back, catching himself against the wall and swearing loudly, then came back at Harry with a vicious blow to the ribs, which doubled Harry over briefly before he straightened and started to launch himself at Fred again - and George finally got the presence of mind to react.

"_Protego!_" he shouted, and Harry smacked against the shield between him and Fred. "S-stop it! FRED! _Expelliarmus!_"

Suddenly he had both their wands in his hand, and was gaping at them as they glared at each other, Fred's hand on his jaw and Harry's breathing laboured, a glowing shield separating them.

"What the _hell_ is the m-matter with you?!" he shouted at them.

"You don't know him!" Harry raged at Fred, ignoring George. "You don't know anything about him!"

"And you think you do? He's playing you like a-"

"Shut up!!" George snapped. "Both of you! _Silencio! Gelium!_"

He took a deep breath and got a hold of himself as they both glared at him, silenced and held in place by his spells. "B-bloody hell," he said in disbelief. "That's a s-spell I use on Frank and Graham when th-they're fighting over the last biscuit!" He waited a bit longer, forcing them to cool off. "Now. If I l-let you go, can you act like big boys? Or should I s-send you both to bed without any pudding?"

They nodded sullenly. He took a deep breath and released them.

"You don't know Draco," Harry began again, somewhat more restrained.

"I may not know what he's like in bed," Fred said disdainfully, "but I _do_ know enough to know he's not somebody Alec should be with. And you should know that too. You've got a responsibility to Alec, and it should be bigger than your responsibility to your prick!"

George swallowed hard as Harry's eyes went icy and his lips thinned. "Don't even try to play that card with me, Fred! If we're going to get into who's a responsible parent, I could point out that you're the one with the daughter who scares the shit out of everybody around her, and maybe if you used a bit better discipline on her-"

Fred flushed, stung. "Just because I don't-"

"-I _won't_, because she's your daughter and I'm not going to second-guess how you raise her! I expect the same fucking courtesy from you, but apparently that's too much to ask for!"

George shook his head, "Harry, he's n-not saying you're a-"

"He knows exactly what he's saying," Harry shot back, not bothering to look at George.

"It's just that we c-care about Alec, and-"

"Fred can speak for himself," Harry snapped. He took a deep breath, obviously struggling for restraint. "Look, Fred," he said, more calmly. "I know how much you care about Alec. And I know I wouldn't have got through Alec's first year without all of you, and I know what you in particular did, even though you were mourning Ginny too. And believe me, I'm grateful to you." He narrowed his eyes. "But don't you ever second-guess what kind of father I am again, and don't you ever even think of doing anything like this again. EVER."

"I'm not-"

"I have done my level best to be a good father to Alec. Don't you fucking dare decide you suddenly know what's best for him, just because I'm seeing someone you don't approve of."

"This has nothing to do with me approving-"

"Because for your information, Draco's bloody good to Alec! My son finally has somebody who understands him, and I am not going to piss that away because _you_ never got over George getting cursed!"

Fred's eyes narrowed. "This isn't about George-"

"I am sorry George got cursed!" Harry went on forcefully. "I am sorry Bill got bitten! And I am really, _really_ fucking sorry Ginny died! But you are not the only wizard in the world who had people you cared about hurt by Voldemort and his supporters, and I am not going to let you ruin what I've got with Draco just because _you_ never managed to get past any of it." Harry stepped around George's shield spell and took his wand back. "And if you ever mess with Draco again, you will fucking well regret it. If you _ever_ threaten his privacy again I will leave my wand at home and just beat you to a pulp with my bare hands. All right? Is that fucking crystal clear?"

Fred's eyes flicked over to George, who gave an infinitesimal nod. Fred cleared his throat. "Crystal."

"Fine." Harry tucked his wand away. "You bloody well owe Draco an apology, too. The only reason I won't insist you give him one is that you'd just insult him. And believe it or not, he doesn't need or deserve that."

He turned and headed out of the flat. They heard his footsteps going down the stairs and, a moment later, the crack of Apparition as he passed the store wards.

George let out his breath, and Fred sat down heavily at the table, putting his head in his hands. George pulled up a chair and joined him.

"I may have to kill her," Fred said softly after a long silence.

"I t-take it she didn't tell you," George said quietly.

"No."

"D-did you have any idea what she was going to do?"

"No. She just said she'd join the rest of us after she'd picked up some supplies."

George nodded.

"And before you ask, _no_, there's no way I'm telling anyone," Fred said. "You and me and Demelza are the only ones who know we spent all day in Surrey on Wednesday."

"All except f-for Anne," George said grimly. "Harry'll probably-"

"Tell Ron, and Ron'll tell Hermione," Fred said, nodding. "It won't go farther than that. I hope."

"If it does, Mum's g-going-"

"To kill me, I know. Better me than Anne."

George blew out his breath, and Fred looked up at him seriously.

"I'm right and you know it. Me, she'll yell bloody blue murder at – might get a Howler, even – but Anne? There's no way I want Anne being treated like Fleur was the first few years she was with Bill."

"You d-don't think she's-"

"Earned it?" Fred chuckled humorlessly. "Maybe. But if Mum ever finds out it was Anne, she'll..." He shook his head. "She's never quite forgiven me for marrying her in the first place. And I bloody well have not earned the 'I told you you shouldn't have married a Slytherin' speech."

"D'you think she m-might have a point?"

Fred rolled his eyes. "I'm sure Anne just was trying to do what she thought was right by Alec. You know she's... you know how she gets over Death Eaters. It wasn't easy for her to be one of the only Slytherins on our side. She goes a bit mental."

George barely stopped himself from pointing out that Fred describing anybody else as "a bit mental" over the topic of Death Eaters was a bit like Percy calling anybody else a crashing bore. Not the time. "Would you have stopped her, if you'd known?"

"Yeah. Probably why she didn't tell me," he said, rubbing his forehead. George got up and took out a bottle of Firewhiskey, managing to pour two glasses with only minimal difficulty despite the darkness of the room. Fred nodded his thanks, knocking back a glass.

"You'll have to t-talk to her," George said firmly.

"Yeah. Merlin. That'll be a joy." He ran a hand through his hair and held out his glass, looking up as George felt around for the bottle unsteadily. "Oh bloody hell you can't see a thing. Sorry." He waved his wand and Summoned a pair of George's indoor glasses.

"Thanks." George blinked as the glasses went on and the room lost its disorienting blurry dimness.

"You were working in the lab? How's the second variation?"

"Needs more asphodel."

"I got some."

"N-not any more. I think that's what Harry exploded."

Fred swirled his Firewhiskey around the bottom of the glass. "Does it make everyone talk in limericks? Or is that just for us?"

"Demelza got acrostic."

"Brilliant! Wonder what Percy would get."

"Mine even w-worked my stammer in. Demelza almost died laughing... wait, what w-was it I ended up saying...

_The next time we're f-feeling frisky  
Remember that twins can be risky  
Hermione's appalled  
They've ch-charmed her cat bald  
They're all yours; I'm off for Firewhiskey._

"Oh, _brilliant_!" Fred grinned, eyes sparkling. "The stammer part's no commercial use whatsoever, but brilliant nonetheless!"

George chuckled, then sobered. "We're going to drive him away, you know."

Fred's smile disappeared. "He said he would choose us over-"

"That was after they'd been together three months. It's been six now."

"Yeah, and six weeks of that with Malfoy in Azkaban," Fred sneered. "That should give anybody pause, I don't care how love-stupid they are."

George shook his head. "They're becoming a family."

Fred set his jaw. "They're not."

"You don't want to s-see it because you don't want him to replace Ginny. But there's bugger-all you can d-do about it."

"He's not replacing her. Even if he was, I wouldn't care, Alec needs somebody – just not Draco Malfoy."

"That's g-getting old, Fred."

"Shut up."

George swirled the dregs of his own Firewhiskey, staring at the patterns of flame in the glass. Bloody hell, arguments with Fred were draining.

"Did you think I had?" Fred asked, his voice low. George raised his eyebrows. "Taken the picture," Fred clarified.

George knocked back the rest of his Firewhiskey and shook his head. "I d-didn't know what to think, mate."

"I wouldn't-"

"I can't say any more. D-don't you think that says something, that even _I_ c-can't tell what you're likely to do? D-doesn't that worry you?"

"No."

"It should."

Fred stared at him. "Doesn't it bother you that Malfoy's not rotting in Azkaban like he should be, learning to paint with drool?"

"No."

"Fuck, George." Fred shook his head in disbelief. "You're - you still can't talk right. You're almost blind indoors. And you sit there and tell me it doesn't bother you-"

"You've ch-changed a lot more than I have."

Fred pressed his lips together and looked away.

George sighed. "I kept thinking, how could you d-do that to Harry? And Alec? And b-bloody hell, even Ben? I c-can't even understand how Anne could do it. Ben's just a l-little kid, Fred. A sweet little kid."

"Of course Ben's a sweet little kid," Fred said impatiently, "and you can't _not_ like him, but that doesn't make a damned bit of difference in how I feel about his father. Or how Anne feels about him either."

"Come on, mate, Malfoy's raising him; at l-least some of what you like in Ben is d-due to Malfoy."

Fred snorted. "Listen, by that logic, Walburga Black was probably a sweet old biddy and the Dursleys were just well-meaning and tragically misunderstood. You can't look at the child and automatically see the parents."

George rubbed his eyes, feeling a headache coming on. He got up, put the Firewhiskey away. "So you're sure, you d-don't want anybody but us to know it w-was Anne?"

"I'm sure."

He nodded thoughtfully. "I guess I can understand that. I m-mean, the whole family would go mental on Anne. You'd p-probably have to leave her."

Fred's eyes widened. "What?"

"Well if it's the whole f-family against just Anne-" he began reasonably.

"And my kids!" Fred said, and George shrugged. "She's my wife! I'm pissed as hell at her, but - oh sod off," he broke off. "It's not the same."

This was, George felt, one of the upsides of having had to learn to speak again, and still having a stammer. It had taught George the value of silence. Sometimes it really did work out better if the person you were talking to had time to come to conclusions on their own.

"If you-"

"Had to choose, I'd choose her, yeah," Fred said sourly. "I caught the analogy, thanks."

"Even if it w-was her or me?" George asked.

Fred looked away. "Even then," he said quietly. "But it's not the same with Malfoy."

"Maybe not right n-now. It will be soon."

"No."

George put a comforting hand on Fred's shoulder, reflecting that another good side of having a stutter was that it forced him to consider ahead of time what was worth making the effort to say out loud, and what wasn't. And this... wasn't worth it. He could probably talk till he was blue in the face and Fred would still refuse to see that he was wrong, that he was letting his own problems affect Harry, that Anne had done the same thing, and that they both needed to conquer their own demons or they would damage themselves - and Harry and Alec - a lot more than they would damage Malfoy.

George sighed again. It was so bloody simple, really. Harry was head over heels in love with Malfoy, and Fred and the rest of the family were just going to have to accept it. Nobody went off the way Harry had done today for somebody they were only shagging for a lark. Nobody looked the way Harry did when he spoke of Malfoy if it didn't mean anything. Of course Fred and Anne couldn't see that - Harry wasn't stupid, and the whole Malfoy Topic was a huge unmentionable with most of the family - but knowing George didn't care had made Harry loosen up with him. He'd talked about spending time with Malfoy. Mentioned how worried he was about how Malfoy was dealing with having been in prison again. How much he wanted to help him, and how helpless he felt. How difficult it had been, being with Malfoy after he'd told Ben about his past.

"Going back to the lab?" Fred asked.

George nodded. "You're going to-"

"Talk to Anne," Fred said heavily, nodding. "Keep your couch free for tonight. I may need it."

"It's always there. Though r-really, it should be Anne sleeping on the couch tonight."

Fred laughed bitterly. "Oh you're welcome to argue that to her if it comes to that. Ah, no, never mind, bad idea," he corrected immediately, and George chuckled.

"D'you want me to heal-" he gestured at Fred's jaw, now a distinct reddish tinge.

"No thanks. Might make her feel guilty; that's bound to help some."

"For what it's worth, I r-really think you should tell Harry-"

"That it wasn't me?" Fred shook his head. "No. Wouldn't do any good."

George shrugged, letting the topic go, and watched Fred step into the Floo.

And a string of images came unbidden to his mind, all things Fred and Anne would probably never see, of Malfoy at Harry's house one weekend when George had dropped by with a present for Alec from Wheezes. Alec's face glowing as he showed Malfoy what George had given him. Malfoy hugging Alec, making a joking comment to Harry, and blushing, actually blushing, when Harry made some low response George didn't catch. Harry grinning at Malfoy, unselfconsciously holding his hand, kissing him in the kitchen while Alec and Ben played with the toy George had brought.

Maybe it should've felt nauseating, seeing that. And he was fairly sure Ron probably still went green at the mere thought of any of it. But it was good to see Harry happy again. Living again.

He picked up the bag of Apothecary purchases, and started back down the stairs.

**ooo000ooo**

**Author's Note:** BTW, the poetry-inducing Wheeze idea is not mine. It sprang from the imagination of scrtkpr, whose fic "Poetic Justice" deserves a special place in the annals of H/D fic :)


	8. December

**Author's Note:** OK, _finally_. We're now at December of Ember to Ember, the sequel to Volunteers (fic written for **hdsbeltane**). Concrit is warmly appreciated. Thanks hugely to **scrtkpr**, for going above and beyond with this chapter, wielding the pointy beta-stick with style, and indulging my neediness ;)

**Title:** Ember to Ember  
**Chapter:** 8 (of 12)  
**Pairing:** H/D  
**Word count:** 5000.

**ooo000ooo**

_**Date:**_ _December 12  
__**From:**__ hjpottergringotts.wz  
__**To:**__ malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
Looks like it'll be only me at the concert this Sunday. Ron says break a leg._

**Date:** December 13  
**From:** malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpottergringotts.wz  
Literally or figuratively?

_**Date:**_ _December 14  
__**From:**__ hjpottergringotts.wz  
__**To:**__ malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
Figuratively. He's trying._

**ooo000ooo   
Sunday, December 16**

Harry groaned and threw his head back. "Stop, I'm too close," he gasped, and Draco gave him one last lick before moving up to kiss him feverishly. He pulled back, breathing hard, then smirked at Harry as he reached for the lube and applied it, careful not to stimulate Harry even further. He closed his eyes as Draco positioned himself and guided Harry inside him. Harry covered his mouth with his hand, biting down and concentrating on something, anything, that would take away the almost overwhelming need to come.

"All right?" Draco asked, chuckling.

"Yeah," Harry murmured. "Just...oh don'tdothat," he gasped as Draco's muscles tightened around him. "God, don't _do_ that, unless you want me to embarrass myself."

Draco laughed. "No, fun as that would be, I'd like to get something out of this experi- oh," he gasped as Harry moved within him and apparently hit the magic spot.

"Mmm, you were saying?" Harry smirked as Draco groaned and arched his back, completely at a loss for words.

"What was that?" Harry moved his hips slowly.

Draco bit his lip, throwing his head back. "God, talk about embarrassing myself..." he moaned.

Harry thrust up into him, slowly, watching Draco's eyelids squeeze shut and his mouth open slightly, fingers tightening on Harry's shoulders, pulling Harry up into a sitting position, arms going around him.

"Please...god, please, just...harder..."

Fuck, that whisper was so incredibly hot, as Draco forgot himself and lost the cool distance and detachment he normally wore during the day and just became need, want, sensation.

Slow down, make this last...

Harry broke off their kiss to rest his head on Draco's shoulder a moment, breathing rapidly, then nudged him.

"Over?" Draco murmured, and Harry nodded. They lay back down and Draco moved onto his back, Harry settling and sinking into him. Harry drew in a shaky breath as Draco's heat surrounded him, and he realized that there was no need to go slow any more - no way to do so, either, because Draco was quickening his own movements, legs wrapping around Harry, head thrown back, neck curving, eyes closed, gasping his name. Clenching and releasing rhythmically, silently reaching completion and _Merlin_, he was incredible, and about as easy to resist as the tide, and sensation flooded over Harry and he cried out, emptying himself in a long, pulsing wave.

And then it was over and he was panting over Draco, braced on his arms, body humming with the buzz of a spectacular shag. He leaned down, catching Draco's lips with his. Ghosting kisses over his cheek, his neck, as he slowly withdrew. Draco's fingers reaching into his hair, hands around his shoulders, pulling him closer, their lips meeting in passing as they kissed each other gently.

It was in moments like this that it was so difficult to not give voice to the sappy sentiments within him, things he wasn't sure were even real or true. So much tenderness towards Draco, such a need to offer and ask for so much more than this. To say the hell with the rest of the world and just pull each other close. Forget who they were and who they were responsible for, forget that there was a whole world outside this room that didn't want them to be together, didn't want them to be happy.

No, not outside this room. Outside this flat. Ben and Alec would be quite happy to see them spend the rest of their lives together.

And it wasn't a world that didn't want _them_ to be happy. It was a world that didn't want _Draco_ to be happy. There was a difference, though in moments like this it was hard to see it.

They lay down again, Harry caressing Draco's cheek, resting his head against Draco's shoulder, sighing as they nestled together, struggling to control the urge to say stupid things. Things he'd only ever said to Ginny, things that probably weren't really appropriate between him and Draco.

"What is it?" Draco said, sounding amused.

"What's what?"

"There's a distinct sound of Gryffindor thinking going on," Draco said, chuckling. "It's very loud."

Harry laughed.

"Well?"

"Nothing," Harry said, smiling. "Just wondering."

"What?"

"Erm, why...why you seem to prefer bottoming now," he said, grabbing a random topic. Although come to think of it, he had wondered about that, a bit.

"Why?"

"Nothing, just that the first few months we were together, I just assumed you always preferred to top, but then you all of a sudden were all right with switching around. Just wondered why."

Draco shrugged. "I don't know. I always wondered why you wanted to bottom the first time we were together. It's not something a lot of men would think of doing right away."

"Wasn't right away," Harry pointed out. "We'd been running on nothing but hand jobs for too bloody long by that point, remember?"

"I try not to," Draco said dryly. "Had you wanted to, before?"

"You mean, before, when I was married?" Harry frowned slightly. "I don't think so. Though I was pretty young - I mean, I was a widower by age twenty-one. I was still at the stage where having sex at all was a fantastic thing, so I think my fantasies tended towards doing more of the same."

"What about after?"

"Erm." Harry suddenly realized this topic was a little more intimate than he'd really meant it to be. "After...yeah, I suppose so, after a while, but, you know, circumstances and all...the couple times I was with Muggle blokes it wouldn't have really been..." he trailed off, not sure how to answer Draco's question. Or if he even had an answer. Because he'd certainly thought a lot about what he wanted to do with Draco, but...it was so hard to express, the feelings he'd had, the need to give himself to Draco, fully, to leap before he looked. It didn't really go into words. Not words that wouldn't sound stupid, anyway. He cleared his throat. "What about when you did?"

"Did what?"

"The first time you let someone else..." he said, and inexplicably found himself blushing. Silly question, but Draco had once admitted to being terrified of Muggles before ending up living with them. Somehow Harry couldn't quite imagine him getting close enough to one to let himself be topped.

"The first time I bottomed?" Draco asked, his voice curiously flat.

Harry shrugged. "You don't have to tell me, I just wondered. It takes some trust, that's all."

"You were there."

"Where?"

"The first time I did."

Harry pulled back slightly. "What?" He blinked at Draco. "I was...I was your first?"

"Yeah."

"The day you came back from Azkaban?"

"Yeah."

Harry lay back, stunned. "Why the hell didn't you tell me? Did I hurt you?"

"Not much chance of that," Draco said dryly. "You were treating me like I was made of glass."

"But...why didn't you..."

"I didn't want you to pity me. I didn't want...I wanted to not feel Azkaban. I don't know what else, I don't remember." Draco had gone stiff in his arms. "And I'd rather not keep talking about it, thanks," he said, sitting up. "We should be getting up anyway."

Harry suppressed a sigh. Nothing new. Draco and Azkaban, nightmares and mood swings and unexpected issues that often made him draw back, pulled his lips into a thin, tense line. And throughout it all, not a bloody word. "It wasn't a picnic." "Not as much fun as the brochures would have you believe." Never really letting Harry in. The last week had been particularly enjoyable, as the date for the end of Draco's ban on magic approached.

Harry sat up, rubbing a hand over his hair, thinking about cutting it. It felt amazing when Draco ran his hands through it, but it was a pain now, halfway down his back. He glanced over at Draco. "Will you be keeping the beard, after you've got your wand back?"

Draco grimaced. "Not bloody likely. The moment I can do the glamour, it's off."

"I don't mind it."

"I do." Draco's voice still had that 'I don't want to go into this' tone, and Harry didn't know whether he didn't like the look of the beard, or the feel, or the fact that it was a reminder that he couldn't do magic.

He sighed again, glancing at the clock, and frowned. Seven o'clock. "Wish your wand would get here. The ban was supposed to be over at midnight, wasn't it?"

"It's supposed to be over when they say it's over," Draco snapped.

Harry blew out his breath. "You know, I'm trying to help. I don't know what I've done wrong this time, but I'm bloody well trying to help, and you're not making it easy."

"What should I do to make it easy, then?" Draco said irately.

"Talking to me once in a while would be nice."

"About what?"

"I don't know what any of this means to you, Draco!" He rubbed his forehead in frustration. "I know Azkaban was bad, I figure it hurt to have your past come back at you like it did, but for god's sake, you never say anything-"

"I'm not a woman, I don't-"

"God, Draco, I'm not a woman either! I'm not asking you to give me a detailed account of everything you feel. Just a hint so I can not make things worse."

"I'm not much for talking about any of this," Draco said tightly. "Managed to avoid talking about it to my son long enough."

"Well, you got through that somehow."

"I wouldn't have had to, if-" he broke off, looking away. There was a long silence.

_If you weren't with me,_ Harry finished for him.

"How do you think it feels? Paying for things I did when I was sixteen?" Draco said quietly. "I was doing what I had been taught to do, believing what I had been raised to believe. And I was sixteen," he whispered. "Fucking sixteen years old. What the hell did I know?"

Harry's stomach clenched. He'd been sixteen too. And made very different choices.

As if reading his mind, Draco added bitterly, "I know. It's not an excuse."

"You were trying to protect the people you loved. For some of what you did, anyway."

"And I didn't care who I endangered while doing it."

Harry swallowed hard, seeing vivid flashes of Katie Bell floating up in the air, Ron drinking poisoned mead, Bill Weasley's ravaged face.

"And now here we are, and it's ten years later," Draco said hollowly. "And I'm still putting people in danger. Including my own son."

"There's people who would say the same thing about me, about what I'm doing to Alec by letting you into our lives. I don't have to believe them."

Draco looked away. "What about when this comes out? It'll come out, eventually. And when it does, what'll-"

"I'll be with you," Harry interrupted.

Draco laughed cynically. "Oh really."

"You and Ben are...you told me, back in May, that you didn't want me to do this on a whim, and I told you it wasn't a whim."

"Not a whim to me either," Draco said quietly.

"So trust me. Please." Draco's expression was unreadable. "I know; you trusted me that it would be OK to go to Brigid's Cross, and it wasn't, and I can't tell you to trust me about publicity. But just...trust me that I'll still be there after everything dies down and the papers have a new scandal to talk about."

"You'd tell the whole wizarding world to go to hell for my sake?" Draco chuckled cynically. "A little hard to believe that when you can't even say it to your in-laws."

Harry drew in his breath, immediately defensive. "That's different."

"Of course."

"You don't understand. The Weasleys...you don't understand."

And he didn't. And Harry couldn't really explain it, explain the images that went through his head when he thought about them.

Arthur walking with Alec for hours so that Harry could rest. Fleur singing to him softly in French. Ron and Hermione and Percy by his side as the experienced parents taught them all how to change nappies, how to burp a baby. Percy working out a schedule for Alec's care, keeping the press away from them like a lion defending its cubs. All of it so quiet, so unusual in any gathering of Weasleys.

All of them there for when Harry needed to break down, looking at him with worry in their own reddened eyes. He'd never confided in any of them - hadn't known how to - but Bill's silent offer of a handkerchief, Fred's gruff "All right there, mate?" as Harry struggled to deal with waves of grief, had meant more than he could express.

In the heartbreak and despair of that time, the Weasleys had closed ranks around him. And not just for the first months; for the entirety of Alec's life, they'd been there, loving Alec even when they couldn't understand him at all. How could he express to Draco how much it had meant to him?

Molly wiping away her tears while making whooshing broomstick noises with a spoonful of baby food as she brought it to Alec's mouth.

George simply picking Alec up and feeding him to give Harry a chance to compose himself, the day he'd found Harry dully holding Alec, tears running down his face, unable to respond to his cries.

He pushed the images out of his mind.

"Look. You...you said I wouldn't choose you over them and that's what I said, too, back in July. When Fred outed us to them. But now..."

"Yes?" Draco raised a cool eyebrow at him.

"I would."

Draco gave a small huff of disbelieving laughter. "Really. You'd defy them? Your adoptive family?"

"Nobody who really matters would ask me to, and Alec would still be welcome there. It might get uncomfortable with a few people, but it – it's not the same as it was back in May or even in July."

"How heartwarming."

"Look, they're important to me, all right? You're dismissing them like I'm just putting my former in-laws ahead of you, but they...they were there for me when I needed them the most. When Alec was a baby...you don't understand."

"I don't understand what it's like to be alone with a child?"

"Not like that. Ginny _died_, d'you understand that? I thought we'd grow old together, have lots of kids, and then suddenly she was just _gone_. It hurt like nothing else. And they...they were wrecked, she was their baby, the only girl - Molly cried every day for months - but they put that aside to help me, and they never blamed me.

"Ginny's parents took me in for weeks. Ron and Hermione practically moved into my flat after that. Fleur and Anne nursed Alec. And Fred and George...you don't know how hard it was for them. Ginny was their favourite. I've never seen George so devastated, and Fred - the only time I'd seen him worse was when George was at St. Mungo's. But they took Alec out all the time, and played with him, and made sure he grew up hearing laughter even when they didn't feel so bloody humorous themselves. D'you think I could've walked out on all of that when we'd been together for two months? Especially when you didn't even want anybody to know we were together at all?"

Draco's expression was still hard and closed. "So you're saying that now you would choose me over these saints you call family?"

"I – it's just-" Harry blew out his breath in frustration. Five minutes ago they'd been as close as he'd ever felt to anybody. Like touching one another's souls, almost. Now...

When they held each other, and moved together, when it was just about sex it was fucking fantastic. And when it was just them and the kids together, that was wonderful too, in all the ways he wanted it to be.

But then the rest of the world came in.

"Would you rather I did? Reject all of them? Would that be enough for you? I couldn't live with doing that to my son."

"And I don't think I can live with doing what I'm doing to my own son."

Harry stared at him.

"Did you see how that woman looked at him at Brigid's Cross? Every day I'm with you makes it more likely that I'll be exposed and then so will he, and-"

"Fred said he wouldn't-"

"He's not the only - maybe I don't want to put my son in danger, have you thought of that?"

"Maybe you're looking for excuses to end this!" Harry snapped. "Look, whether you're with me or not, if you let Ben near the wizarding world, some day he will be in danger. You have to decide if Ben is a Muggle or a wizard - if you are a Muggle or a wizard. And if you decide you're both wizards, you have to live with that and know that he'll have to live with it too. This is your world too." He paused, steadied himself. "Besides, I'm a curse-breaker, and a damned good one. So's Bill. You know he's already worked on stuff for Ben-"

"So you two can single-handedly protect him?"

"And the Aurors have to protect you, and you've got the stag-charm, there's anti-revenge-curse wards on you both, and even for non-magical revenge-"

"None of those stop words, do they? Anything short of physical damage and-"

"What d'you expect? Do you want to keep Ben hidden until he's at Hogwarts? D'you think it'll be any easier for him to deal with this during his first year of school? He's going to have to face it sooner or later. Having me in the picture makes it more complicated, but-"

Draco scowled darkly. "Buggers it up completely, is more like it."

"You're over-reacting, Draco! Yeah, it'll probably be hard on him if anything comes out, but you're over-reacting-"

"Really? To what? To the idea of my name and face being splashed all over the paper? Being treated like I'm lower than dirt?"

"Look-"

"Having somebody threaten Ben again, me going to Azkaban again? Sitting there for days wondering if I'm ever going to get out again, like last time?"

"Wait, what?!" Harry's eyebrows rose. "They decided your sentence about an hour after you were taken away!"

"Well nobody bothered to tell me," Draco said bitterly. "I didn't know if I'd ever see Ben again until they transferred me to Azkaban three days later."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"What did you want to know? That it was humiliating, being in there? Being left alone for hours, without even a shred of clothing, while they decided where they were going to put me? That I felt powerless, and scared for Ben? That there was nothing to do except try to keep from going crazy and tell myself that I'd get out some day?"

"I didn't know-"

"Shut up! You want me to share? You want to know what I'm 'over-reacting' to?" He glared at Harry. "I don't know, Harry, it's hard to tell. Maybe it's feeling like a fucking Squib, _again_. Or maybe it's describing in great detail every single sexual encounter we had, because the Auror doing the questioning decided to humiliate me and I couldn't fucking well stop. Maybe it's seeing my son lose the first memory he ever had of being in a wizarding place, because a five-year-old shouldn't be expected to have to deal with seeing his father dragged off like that. Maybe it's knowing that it can happen again at any time. Maybe it's seeing that bitch look at Ben like _he_ was dirt." Draco stopped, biting his lip and looking away. "Maybe it's sitting in that fucking cell for six weeks thinking I deserve it, because I made the _wrong_ fucking choices, and listened to my parents when I shouldn't have and followed that bastard when I shouldn't have, and I put Ben in danger because I wanted to go back to the wizarding world and I deserve it! Maybe it's thinking that I will have to deal with my fucking past forever - and then remembering that a lot of people'll never get past what my kind did. Bill Weasley will never have his face back, George Weasley will never have his speech or sight back the way they were – hell, Alec'll never have a mother and you'll never have your wife back, and all of you have to live with that shit, when none of you even did anything wrong, so why am I whining about being spat on?" Draco paused, breathing hard. "Do you want to hear more?"

"Draco-" Harry said faintly, his mind reeling. "I – you know I'd try to help, whatever happened; I already did, when-"

"You think I'd want that again? You think it's easy to have to be grateful to you - you paid my rent, took care of my son-"

"I don't expect you to be grateful - you'd do the same for me."

"But I don't have to, do I?"

"That doesn't-"

"Daddy?"

Harry and Draco froze.

"Daddy-"

"It's – it's all right, Alec," Harry called out, his heart sinking, as he Summoned a shirt. Draco made a dismissive motion at Harry and went to the door.

"It's all right, Alec," he said, his voice steady as he pulled on a pair of shorts. "D'you want me to tuck you back in?"

"It's...it's morning," Alec said timidly.

Draco opened the door. "Then I'll help you get dressed, all right?"

"Were you fighting?" Alec asked, looking at Harry.

"We're not any more, don't worry," Draco said gently. "Come on little man, let's get you dressed."

Harry lay back, his mind miserably running the same tired track it seemed to go on too often these days. The arguments were more frequent, the lashing out more pronounced. And the things Draco had just said...Harry wondered how long he'd been holding all of that in, wondered how many other unpleasant revelations he might have. He glanced at Ginny's portrait and couldn't help feeling she was looking at him reproachfully.

He looked up as Draco came back into the room, very determinedly not looking at Harry, pulling on his trousers and shirt.

He got up, approached Draco, put a hand on his shoulder. Draco stilled, not looking back at him.

"Are we done here?"

"Alec's up," Draco said tightly. "We can't talk now."

"I know. But are we..." Harry suddenly realized his question could be taken two ways. And he realized he really didn't know which way he meant it.

Draco's expression was closed.

"Please. Just give me more time."

Draco's eyes met his. "More time for what?"

Harry shook his head helplessly. "Just... more time. Just give me more time. Please." He hated that he sounded so needy and weak, that he had no idea how to fix this, and not much to hope for but more borrowed time.

**oooOOOooo**

Harry was starting to really regret this choir business.

The concert was excellent. Several Dublin choirs, singing Christmas and "other seasonal" songs from many different musical traditions, which Harry could now recognize, thanks to being immersed in music talk most nights and every weekend. Draco and Kara's choir had sung Balulalow and a spiritual Draco detested, with a solo by Kara. The children's choir had sung a Hebrew song, and now the massed choirs were about to sing Handel's Hallelujah Chorus with the audience. And Harry was wishing he'd never brought Alec into any of this.

Right, Alec. Alec was going to be watching him, seeing if he joined in the singing.

He smiled as Alec beamed at him from the middle of the alto section and nudged Kara beside him, and he could see Alec saying "My dad's singing too!" as Kara grinned. It was a gorgeous song, and Harry suddenly wondered if Handel had been a wizard too.

Probably not; Draco would've mentioned it.

Then they were at the sectional part Alec loved so much, which the four of them could sing at home, because Harry had learned the bass part so that he could sing it along with the other basses in the audience and onstage tonight.

_And He shall reign for ever and ever_

Now the tenors were joining, Draco's part and Harry's interweaving. Then Kara and Alec and the altos, and finally Ben with the sopranos, a song older than any of them, Ben's face shining as his voice soared above them all.

So wonderful and awful, seeing them all up there. His family. The four of them – five, including Kara – _worked_, when they weren't being torn apart by Weasleys and others.

But things weren't going well. This morning's argument was only part of it.

He'd felt so close to all the Weasleys, for so long. Percy wasn't exactly a best mate, but he and Fred had been friends for sixteen years, and it wasn't until now that he realized just how much he'd valued that friendship, now that it was effectively gone. They were polite enough around Alec, but what Fred had done and said still burned, and Harry couldn't just forgive and forget it.

The Weasleys were never going to accept Draco.

The Aurors were never going to let Draco be.

He and Ginny had vowed to give Alec a happy home when they were expecting him. Unplanned and initially unwelcome, they'd promised themselves he would nonetheless always feel loved. And then Harry had vowed it again, after Ginny was gone.

He sighed as he gazed at Alec, singing so happily onstage. Thought of Ginny's accusing look this morning. How would she look at him if Alec lost this?

The Weasleys were family. He loved them all, even the one who'd betrayed him. But if they couldn't accept Draco, they couldn't accept Harry, and that was that. If he had to make a choice...

The problem was that Draco could also make choices, and they might not be the same as Harry's.

_Hallelujah_

He joined the enthusiastic applause as the last glorious chord ended, then hurried to the backstage area, waiting patiently until the four of them emerged, talking and laughing.

"It's enough to make any pagan doubt the Goddess," Kara was saying enthusiastically.

"What?" asked Harry.

Draco laughed, gave Harry a quick kiss. "Kara always gets a crisis of faith around Christmas."

"Why's that?"

"Aye, lad, ye canna tell me you don't feel it!" she said, laughing. "The worship of Jesus and the Lord above and the Virgin Birth and it's all _glorious_. Almost makes me want to call up me Da and tell him he was right all along." Draco laughed. "I said _almost_," she smirked. "Oh, the little ones wanted to meet the harpist before she goes, come on, boys," she said, and they rushed off.

"What is it?" Draco asked, as Harry cocked his head to the side, gazing at him. Draco was smiling, energized, almost glowing, his newly clean-shaven face just begging to be stroked. Harry's heart skipped a beat. He had a sudden memory of what Ginny had called "After-Game High," both of them glowing and zipping with energy after a match.

He glanced around. "Here," he said, and pulled Draco into an alcove, kissing him. Draco startled a bit, but returned the kiss with heat.

"What, in here?" he asked breathlessly. "What if someone comes in?"

"What if they do?" Harry answered, waving his wand to spell the curtains closed, pulling Draco closer.

"This is...not very...professional..." Draco trailed off, then seemed to decide to throw caution to the wind and started to unbutton Harry's shirt.

Damn, yes, that energy, recklessness, the high pushing the body for more. Fumbles in the dark of the Quidditch changeroom flitted through Harry's head. He yanked on Draco's shirt, pulled him close, melded their lips together.

It didn't matter what was going on - the future, the past, none of it mattered, not when they were together like this, and Draco might be doubting their future, but he didn't seem to have any doubts about their present, pulling him close, one thigh between both of Harry's, grinding them together. He was hard – might've been hard onstage, too, in the rush of singing that glorious song at the end, the body's simple reaction to excitement.

Draco's mouth moved quickly, Draco nuzzling into Harry's neck, giving his earlobe a gentle tug, and Harry gasped as Draco's hand curved around his arse.

"Nguh."

"Eloquent and to the point," Draco chuckled, his voice low, and Harry undid the top buttons of Draco's white shirt, feeling the heat radiating off him, heart beating rapidly and breath coming faster. Draco murmured something and Harry sucked in his breath as his shirt suddenly hung free, open, his fly undone.

Draco smirked at him. "Forgot I got my magic back, did you?" He chuckled. "I've missed that spell."

Harry's sarcastic reply was lost as Draco's fingers closed around him, and he gasped, caressing Draco's smooth cheek with his own. "No, didn't forget," he whispered, then gave up talking as they thrust against each other. Hands stroking roughly, lips working together, both panting and pushing towards a single goal – and then they were there, and Draco was groaning, his body going still as he pulsed over Harry's hand and Harry bit back a swear word as his own climax rushed through him, with the other concert-goers one flimsy curtain away.

They breathed deeply, holding each other close, and Harry kissed the side of Draco's neck, felt Draco sigh.

_Are we done here?_

_Just give me more time. Please._

**ooo000ooo**

**Author's Note 1:** The songs mentioned in this chapter are Balulalow, Praise His Holy Name, Al Shlosha D'Varim, and Handel's Hallelujah. Lyrics and downloads can be found at the lyrics page. The lyrics page is here (remember to take out the spaces and change all "dots" to periods and "slash" to slash signs, since fanfiction dot net does not allow URLs to be posted)

annafugazzi dot livejournal dot com slash 55489 dot html

I must confess I felt a little blue as I wrote the chapter; my own choir was supposed to have done a concert December 16, where we were going to sing Balulalow, Praise His Holy Name, and Handel's Hallelujah. The concert was cancelled when about a million-jillion inches of snow fell on us that day. ::sniff::

**Author's Note 2:** I have not been answering reviews, and I apologize deeply. My computer has been out of commission for a long, long time. But it's back now, so I have no real excuse to be rude any more. What that means is, I may be late in answering, but I will answer eventually.

**Author's Note 3:** **aikirangel** painted some beautiful watercolours based on chapter 4, Draco's imprisonment. Go see!

aikirangel dot livejournal dot com slash23455 dot html

aikirangel dot livejournal dot com slash23210 dot html

http://aikirangel dot livejournal dot com slash23637 dot html

**Author's Note 4:** Oh! Just realized she also made some for chapter 5! Cool!

aikirangel dot livejournal dot com slash24948 dot html

aikirangel dot livejournal dot com slash24249 dot html


	9. January

**Author's Note:** It's a new year! Well, it is (finally!) on Ember to Ember, the sequel to Volunteers (fic written for **hdsbeltane**), which is supposed to be taking place in 2007/2008 but is currently just a weee bit behind ;) Concrit is warmly appreciated. Thanks hugely to **scrtkpr** for wonderful beta and for just general squeee :)

**ooo000ooo**

**Date:** January 3  
**From:** malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpottergringotts.wzr  
Kara wants me to remind you about lunch at her place this Saturday, celebrating the CD launch and meeting her flavour-of-the-month.

**_Date:_**_ January 4  
**From:** hjpottergringotts.wzr  
**To:** malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
Yeah, we'll be there. And sorry, what's her girlfriend's name again?_

**Date:** January 4  
**From:** malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpottergringotts.wzr  
No clue, doesn't matter. She's likely to be throwing pots at whoever it is by the end of the night anyway.

**oooOOOooo  
January 5**

"Lad, ye've been together eight months. That's serious!" Kara paused as she wiped Ben's face and traded an amused glance with Trina. "I'm guessin' ye didna have a six-month anniversary celebration?"

"We're neither of us girls, so no," said Draco, pouring Alec a glass of milk.

"'Tis longer than I've ever lasted with anyone," Kara pointed out.

Harry blinked. "Really?"

Kara smirked. "Ye've heard it said that gay men are all about casual sex, and lesbians are only interested in commitment?"

"Yeah?"

"I work _hard_ to destroy that stereotype," she said, grinning.

Draco chuckled and glanced at Trina, who for some reason didn't look as amused as Kara had thought she would be. Nice girl; iffy sense of humour, though. "And that's probably why you can't keep a girlfriend, Kara," he said dryly. "Because you say things like that."

Trina laughed, though it sounded a bit forced. "Och, I knew Kara's reputation before we started," she said. "Not getting into anything I can't handle, me luv." She smiled at Kara.

Ugh, _luv_. Not Kara's favourite term of endearment. Kara narrowed her eyes at Draco's amused smirk and stomped on his foot before he could make a snide remark about it.

"Pass the jam, please," Ben said, and Trina passed it over with a smile. That was one point in her favour - she really did like Ben. Not that she'd seen him all that much, but what time they'd spent together had been positive. Unlike Teresa, Kara's most recent ex, who had always looked like she didn't know what to do with her arms and elbows whenever Ben was around.

"Here, let me get that for you," Harry said, taking Ben's roll and the jam. "Little boys and jam," he said to Trina. "Bit of a mess if you leave them alone together."

"So Teresa, where did--" Draco began.

"Trina," Kara said quickly.

"Trina, sorry," Draco said smoothly. "Where did you say you two met?"

"Circle dance group."

"Oh are you still doing that?" Draco asked Kara.

"Yeah, every Sunday." Oops. She'd told Draco she was working Sundays. And she was, sort of; circle dance groups sometimes hired her to sing for them, and public relations and making connections was part of her work. The sudden narrowing of Draco's eyes suggested he had caught the slip, though, and wasn't pleased.

"Look out - Ben!" Harry cried out and Kara saw, as if in slow motion, Ben's glass of chocolate milk spill onto the table, and over Alec's chips.

"Oh for fuck's-"

"Kara," Draco said sternly. "Ben, be more careful, please," he said, getting up to fetch a dishcloth to wipe up the mess as Harry tried to salvage Alec's chips.

"Alec, he didn't mean to do it," Harry said patiently as Alec scowled angrily.

"But I was saving the chips till the end and now they've gone all soggy!" said Alec, glaring at Ben.

"Never a dull moment with little ones around," Kara said apologetically to Trina, as Alec and Ben started arguing and Harry and Draco tried to clean up and keep the argument from getting out of control.

"Come on, Alec, no sense crying over spilled pumpkin juice," Draco said.

Kara choked on her drink. "Pumpkin juice?" she said, laughing, and caught a quick glance between Harry and Draco. Alec frowned at Draco and jutted out his lower lip at the mess on his plate.

"But the chips was my favourite part!"

"Oh for heaven's-" Draco muttered a couple of things under his breath, and a few moments later he and Harry were done cleaning, and Alec was eating his chips contentedly.

Kara frowned. The chips were fine. Hadn't they just had chocolate milk... "Wait - what happened to..." but now she couldn't quite recall what she had been about to ask, and anyway Draco was saying something.

"Did you say you brought a pudding, Teresa?"

"Trina," Kara corrected him.

"Trina, of course. Sorry. I think the boys are ready for it now."

Kara turned to Draco as Trina went to the kitchen. "Will you stop that, you arse?" she said, keeping her voice low. "You can bloody well remember her name, you know."

"Teresa, Trina, what's the difference?"

Kara scowled. "They're two different women, that's what!"

"They're easy to confuse."

"They're not!" Kara said.

Harry hastily cleared his throat. "So, erm, boys, did you know that chips are something totally different in America?"

"They dinna look anything like each other, Draco," Kara said as soon the little boys were effectively distracted.

"They're very similar in many ways," Draco said coolly.

"Name two."

"Breasts."

"Ha ha ha. God but men can be catty sometimes."

"Not being catty," Draco said evenly. "Just not bothering to learn the name of your latest insignificant other. Because why bother, really?"

Kara glared at him. "There's wee'ans listenin'," she reminded him, though Harry was actually keeping them nicely distracted.

"Right. Wee'ans." Draco narrowed his eyes. "One of whom seems to have been spending a lot of time with me on Sundays when his mother _said_ she was working."

"I _am_ working, Draco-" Kara broke off as Trina came back, carrying a lovely apple strudel, and was grateful for the interruption as the boys squealed and they all busied themselves in the complex work of clearing and serving. For a satisfying amount of time there was no more important business than helping the little ones eat, appreciating the strudel, and relaxing after a fairly fine lunch which Kara took credit for, despite the fact that it had come almost entirely from the excellent chip stand down the street.

Draco had no call to try to make her feel guilty over the Sunday business, she reassured herself. Not only was it helpful for her career, but Ben certainly wasn't suffering from her absence. Most of the time he seemed happier with Draco anyway. Which she had begun to suspect would be true from the moment she'd learned she was pregnant, and thought even more likely once she found out her child would be a boy.

She could've done much worse than bringing into the world a wonderful little boy who loved her, but who seemed to prefer being with his father. The father she'd chosen for him was worth it. And the two of them shared a bond she didn't truly understand, but couldn't deny.

"So, erm, Harry, Alec's your only?" Trina asked as they finished the pudding.

Draco's mobile phone rang, and he gave them all an apologetic glance and went to take the call in the living room.

"Harry?"

"Pardon? Oh. Yes, he is," Harry said, smiling down at Alec.

"Think ye might have any more?"

"Kids? No."

"Why not?" Alec asked.

Harry gave him a startled look, then frowned slightly. "Some people can, and some people can't. I can't. You know that, Alec."

"I know, but why not?"

"That's just how it is sometimes."

"You said you would tell me why when I was bigger. I'm bigger now."

Harry shook his head. "Not big enough."

"Did you ever want to have more babies?" Ben asked.

Harry blew out his breath, looking rather uncomfortable now. "Erm, yeah, but... not after Alec's Mum died." He glanced towards the living room, seeming highly relieved that it looked like Draco was saying goodbye.

"You know, there's all sorts of ways to get around infertility, if that's the problem," Trina said as Draco came back into the room. "You never know, you may want to expand your family some day. I know a few gay men who-"

"No," Draco said bluntly, glancing at Harry. "It's not an option."

"Well even if it's not an option for you and Harry," Kara said, a bit irate. "You never know, if he was with somebody else-"

"No," said Harry and Draco flatly.

"And how come I can't have any kids?" Alec said. "You did."

Trina and Kara glanced at each other curiously, and now Harry looked really uncomfortable.

"You can't, Alec," he said quietly. "I'm sorry, little man. You'll either find somebody who has children and be their dad, or you can adopt a baby who doesn't have parents."

"Bit early yet to be tellin' Alec he canna have children, isn't it?" Trina said, frowning. "Ye never know, modern medicine is finding all sorts of ways around problems. If it's genetic, there's already screening for-"

"Trina," Draco said, his voice hard. "Drop it."

Trina looked rather offended, and Kara bristled. "All she's saying is dinna give up hope," she said. "No need to take her head off about it. There's always hope."

Harry shook his head. "There isn't. Trust me."

Kara felt like the temperature in the room had gone down by about ten degrees. Which was probably understandable, as she and Trina really had no way of knowing what Harry's particular reasons were for not having any more children, and Trina probably shouldn't be so open with her opinions, but still. She dug into her strudel, a bit irate at Draco and Harry, and they all finished their pudding in a somewhat more subdued mood than before.

"Well, it's been a lot of fun getting to know all of ye," said Trina a short while later, "but I really have to get going."

Kara felt a small pang of apprehension as she saw Trina to the door and said goodbye. Lunch had gone fairly well, despite the rocky moments at the end. But now it was time to talk to Draco about something she'd been dreading for quite a while.

"Draco, can ye help me clear?" she said, picking up the detritus of their meal. He nodded and picked up plates as Harry took the boys to the washroom to clean them up.

"Interesting girl, Trina," Draco said as he brought her the last of the dirty dishes. Good. Apparently he was no longer feeling aggrieved about the Sunday issue. Kara turned on the water and picked up a plate, bracing herself.

"Yeah, she is. Brilliant lay, too. Hope this lasts. So," she said, putting all her energy into making her voice as casual as possible. "Windbourne's rather pleased with me."

"Yeah, congratulations. I heard you had a good launch party, too."

"And I've been getting loads of gigs. Here and in London."

"Oh I forgot to tell you, Irish Music Magazine and Analogue both mentioned you last week."

"Read 'em. Clipped 'em." Kara smiled, rinsing a plate and handing it to Draco to dry. "And actually, me manager and I have been talking about next steps."

"Oh?"

"As in, moving to London."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Kara, we've talked about this. We decided-"

"Nae, laddie _you_ decided-"

"_We_ decided," Draco repeated firmly. "And it's not an option. You know that. We've Ben to think about."

"Yeah, we do. But." She took a deep breath. "I'm going anyway. I've signed me lease, and it starts in May."

Draco put down the plate he was drying. "Are you serious?"

"Quite. You know this place is too small for what I want to do-"

Draco was gaping at her. "Just like that? You're - what about Ben?"

"He's coming too," Kara said firmly.

"What?!"

"We'll keep sharing him, one week with me, one week with you," she said reasonably. "I know this is putting you in a bit of a bind, so you can decide who gets him when, and what we'll do till you move to London. If you want, I'll take him fulltime till ye can get settled, or if you want to take him fulltime yourself, 'tis only fair-"

Draco was staring at her in disbelief. "One week with you, one week with me? Try one week with you, _three_ weeks with me. And all of a sudden you're going to just take him fulltime?"

"That was just while I was trying to make a name for meself-"

"You think that'll stop once you're in London?"

"Trina's movin' to London too, she's willing to-"

"Teresa?" Draco said snidely. "And how long is that going to last? A week?"

"I've got plenty of other friends in London, you know that," Kara said. "And you're there almost every other weekend with Harry; why not be there for Ben too?"

"I don't live there!"

"Well then maybe this'll finally convince you to move to London, as I've been trying to get you to do ever since-"

"I don't want to! Not now, and not ever!"

Kara glared at him. "All right, you'd rather we share Ben on a monthly basis? One month with me, the other with you? Or six months on, six off?"

"Are you insane? Having him move to a different city every month? Or uprooting him from his school and friends twice a year? What the hell are you thinking?!"

"Look, we can work this out," she said reasonably. Oh Goddess, she'd known this would be difficult. She tried to calm herself as she put down the bowl she was washing and dried her hands. He just had to be made to see her side. He had to see that she was tired of doing things his way, had been putting off London for years, and it wasn't fair to her career to be stuck here in Dublin forever.

"Come on, Draco," she pleaded. "I have to do this. And do you no want to be near Harry as well? Or is it not working, with him?"

"It's not," Draco said grimly. "But that's not why..."

Kara took a deep breath. "I need to do better, can ye no see that?" she began again, mindful that the little ones and Harry were in the living room and could probably hear every word.

"Well I have a job here! I have a life here!"

"You _teach_, Draco," she pointed out stubbornly. "You know you could pack up and be hired in London in a trice. I'm the one who'll be pickin' up and moving away from me home, the land where I was born-"

"Oh don't give me that," he sneered. "You love being in England, you're _exotic_ there - I swear every time you come back your accent's so bloody thick you sound like a leprechaun."

"Maybe you're happy stuck in this backwater-"

"Dublin is not a backwater, Kara! For god's sake, it's the biggest city in-"

"In _Ireland!_ No exactly cosmopolitan, is it?"

"Mam?"

Kara swallowed hard, realizing both little boys were staring at them from the kitchen door, as Harry tried to take them back to the living room.

"Ben, please, come on back, your mum and dad need to talk..."

"You know," said Draco angrily, "for someone who's so bloody proud of her Irishness, you're remarkably quick to dismiss your precious homeland."

Kara's temper snapped, and to hell with the little ones, who were gaping at them both. "And for somebody born and bred in England, you're bloody quick to never say a fucking word in its defence!"

"And maybe there's a fucking good reason for that, have you ever thought of that?!" he shouted.

"Oh really? Why d'you not enlighten me, then?"

Draco drew a breath for a sharp retort, then paused, suddenly looking uncertain.

"What is it, then?" Kara asked angrily, and caught Ben and Alec glancing at each other, and Harry looking tense. She frowned. "Does Ben know?" Ben stared at Draco wide-eyed, and Kara's temper rose some more. "You've told our five-year-old, but you won't tell his mother?"

Draco shook his head.

"What is it, then? Torrid love affair gone wrong? Family that disowned you? Criminal past?"

Draco rubbed his forehead.

"Well?"

"No," said Harry quietly. "Not like this."

Kara's eyes narrowed as something unspoken passed between Draco and Harry.

"Not like this, Draco, please," Harry repeated.

There was another long silence.

"I have to do it sometime," Draco finally said.

"Draco..." Harry was looking at him worriedly, but at Draco's set expression, he nodded and quietly took the little boys back to the living room.

Draco gestured towards the kitchen table and Kara sat down, intrigued. What the hell?

Draco took a deep breath. "All right, this is going to be... interesting. Not all of it will make sense, but." He took off his glasses and polished them. "I have to give you a bit of background first." He paused, putting them back on. "And actually, the background is probably going to explain some odd things you may have noticed about certain little... accidents Ben's been having lately."

"Accidents?" Kara asked, completely lost. "What? He's wetting himself again?"

"What?" Draco stared at her, baffled, then laughed out loud. "Oh! Oh, no, that's not - no, not that kind of accident." He smiled, shook his head, and then his expression turned serious again. He pushed his glasses up and Kara realized with astonishment that he was nervous. Visibly quite off-balance, as she had never seen Draco be. "I probably should've told you about this a long time ago..."

"Oh god. You've got a criminal past, is that it? Ye're on the run from the British authorities?"

"No, I'm not," he said firmly. "But." He swallowed hard. "I am on parole."

"_What?!_" Kara stood up, outraged.

"Bloody hell, let me start over." He took his conductor's baton out of his pocket and placed it on the table, muttered something under his breath, and Kara felt a bizarre peace settle over her.

"There's a few things you need to know," he said evenly, looking into her eyes. "About me, and about Ben. And about magic."

**oooOOOooo**

Two hours later, Kara walked slowly back into her living room, feeling dizzy. Her mind was reeling from everything she'd been told and shown, all she'd learned about Draco, and reeling even more with the fact that really, somehow, this wasn't surprising her nearly as much as it probably should.

Draco was in the living room as well, staring out the window pensively, and Harry came up behind him and put an arm around his waist, leaning against him. Draco shrugged slightly and Harry let him go.

There was a silence. "That didn't go so badly," said Harry tentatively.

"No. Funny, the literature actually helped."

"Literature?"

"_When Muggles Need To Know_," Draco said absently. "The parole officer who gave it to me when I explained about Ben couldn't stop smirking about it."

"You'd planned this, then?"

"A bit. Once Ben started doing magic, I knew it would only be a matter of time. There's only so many ways you can explain away all the things kids do at this age..."

Harry nodded. "She's taken it pretty reasonably."

"Spell," Draco said dully. "_Claritius_. Kind of a reverse-_Confundus_, making things very clear and understandable, even though they defy common sense."

"Makes sense," Harry said, looking puzzled by Draco's tone.

"Draco? Are you all right?" Kara asked.

"Yeah." He took a deep breath, looked at her. "You understand now. Why I can't move to London."

Kara shook her head, not knowing what to say. There was so much she wanted to do, so much she _needed_ to do, but... it was going to take a bit more time to get her mind around everything Draco had told her today.

"Draco. It'll be all right," Harry said reassuringly, reaching for him.

"No, it won't." Draco moved away from Harry once more. "It won't be."

Kara and Harry shared a worried glance.

"It won't be. Ever," Draco said, sounding weary. "And I can't keep pretending everything will work itself out somehow."

"What do you mean?"

Draco took a deep breath. "You asked me, in December, to give you more time. At the time, I thought... but now..."

"Look," Harry said nervously. "If Kara moves to London, why can't that be-"

"Kara," said Draco, holding Harry's gaze. "Can you make sure the boys are kept busy?"

Kara swallowed hard and nodded, going down the hall to Ben's room, which was empty. The little buggers, where - then she heard them in the bathroom, chatting animatedly.

"Mine's a _lot_ smaller," Alec was saying.

"No it's not. Mine is," Ben replied.

"But yours goes out like that."

"But that's just because I have a fat belly. Hey! Yours has freckles!"

Kara looked around the door and stifled a snicker. Ben and Alec were peeing together and very seriously comparing their penises.

"Does all your family have freckles?"

"Yeah, all of them. Except Daddy."

"Did you know some boys don't have a bit of skin at the end? One of the boys at my sitter's is like that. His penis doesn't have a cover at the end at all!"

"Doesn't it get cold?"

Kara chuckled and they looked up, finished peeing, and started to head back to the living room.

"Boys, come play in the bedroom for a bit," she said, leading them to Ben's room. "I think your Da'll be needin' to talk to Harry a bit longer. Best to leave them be while they do that."

"Can we sing that song we're singing with your choir?" Alec said. Ben rolled his eyes, as usual not overly enthused about music, but willing to sing along anyway.

"Shenandoah?" Kara asked.

"Yeah!"

Two rounds of Shenandoah and three repetitions of Fields of Athenry later, Kara couldn't stand it any more and decided to check on Harry and Draco. She crept closer to the kitchen, stopping as the voices got louder. Not shouting, though. There hadn't been any shouting so far.

"...I _told_ you, Molly can get all the fit, available men she wants to just 'happen to show up' whenever we go have dinner at the Burrow; it doesn't mean I'll take them up on the offer. And I told you, if you wanted me and Alec to spend Christmas with you and Ben, I was perfectly willing to-"

"That's not the point. The point is that your family will never accept me, and neither will the wizarding world. It's time to face that."

"What are you saying?" Harry said, his voice low.

"I'm saying what I should've said last May. What we both should've said last May."

"You're not serious."

"Deadly." He took a deep breath. "You were right. I have to choose."

Kara started in alarm, stepping into the kitchen. Harry's face was pale, Draco's determined, and neither one acknowledged her presence. The sounds of the little boys playing in the background seemed completely removed from the world they were in right now.

"I'm part of _this_ world, Harry," Draco said, his voice strained. "I've made a life for myself and Ben here. I'm a respected teacher. People know my name, and it doesn't make them flinch or hate me. They don't know what this means," he said, baring his forearm, with its snake and skull tattoo. He gazed at it dispassionately, then looked up at Harry. "You can't even look at it."

Harry shifted closer and took Draco's hand, gazing at the tattoo that Kara had always thought was ugly as sin, before ever suspecting what it meant. "I can. I just thought you didn't want me to. But I can," he said, tracing it gently with his fingers. "This is part of you. I know you hate it, and I hate it too. But it's part of you. It's part of what made you who you are now. And who you are now... is worth more than any Mark. Who you are is worth a lot. To me."

Draco pulled back.

"Please. Don't do this," Harry said quietly.

"I have to."

From the kitchen door, Kara spoke up, her mouth dry. "Draco, you can't. You canna do this to Ben."

Draco rolled his eyes. "You do this to Ben every two weeks, Kara."

"He doesn't get attached to the girls I go out with. I make bloody sure of that."

"Would you like me to let him get even more attached to Harry?" Draco asked evenly. "Have it hurt more when we finally do break it off? Because we're going to have to, sooner or later."

"You just have to give it more time," Kara said.

Harry cleared his throat. "Kara... we've tried for eight months," he said slowly. "If it's not going to work, we may as well face it and end it now."

Kara stared at them. It seemed unreal. A split was supposed to involve screaming and crying and slamming doors. Not this quiet, defeated, sorrowful parting of the ways. "This isn't how these things go," Kara said slowly.

"No?"

"There's supposed to be shouting," she said. "Flinging things. Broken mugs."

"We've done all our shouting already," Harry said hollowly. "The last few months..." he trailed off and sighed, rubbing his eyes under his glasses. "Are we... what do you want to tell the boys?"

Draco drew a hand through his hair. "I don't know."

"We were going to... there's still that Quidditch game on Ben's birthday."

"And the Beltane position," Draco said.

"We can do that through e-mail," said Harry. "Unless you want one of us to drop out? There's still time to find replacements."

"Maybe." Draco shrugged. "I'll stay in, if you want to drop it."

"I'll... we'll work it out. And I'll take the boys to the game," Harry said. "Ben's been looking forward to it forever. We don't have to - you can just drop him off at my place. We don't have to see each other."

Draco nodded. There was a long silence.

"Does it make any difference that I love you?" Harry asked quietly.

Draco stared at him. "It makes you a bloody Slytherin, saying that at this point."

"No it doesn't. It's the truth. I'm not saying it to change your mind, because you're probably right." He sighed heavily. "I _know_ you're right. I love you anyway."

Draco swallowed hard. "No, it doesn't make a difference," he finally said quietly. "I..."

Harry shook his head quickly. "No. Don't... don't say anything." He looked away. "Right. I suppose I'd better go."

Draco looked away as Harry went to get Alec, and was silent as he and Alec said their goodbyes to Ben.

"Bye, Draco," Alec said cheerfully, giving him a hug, and Draco held him tightly for a long moment before letting him go, not meeting his eyes as they said goodbye. Kara wondered how the hell Harry was going to explain this to Alec, and guessed from his grim expression that he was wondering the same thing. Then Harry picked up Alec and turned on the spot with him, disappearing with a soft _pop_.

It really should feel more alarming, seeing something like that, Kara thought to herself. Whatever that spell was that Draco had cast on her apparently did its job incredibly well, because all she felt was vague surprise.

Then again, maybe the crushing sorrow of the moment was just blotting out everything else.

Bloody hell, this was far more depressing than any of her own break-ups. Kara sighed and went into the kitchen. She poured herself some gin, hesitated, then poured another for Draco, bringing it to him in the living room, where he was staring out the window blankly.

"Think I'll call Teresa," she said numbly after they'd downed the gin.

"Trina."

"Trina." Kara blinked. "Trina. Whose name even I canna remember properly." She shook her head. "You... you've got something I've never had. Probably won't ever have. A lot of people will never have that. And you're just letting it go. It's desecration, is what it is."

"Don't, Kara," Draco said tiredly.

"What d'you want? For me to tell you 'tis better to have loved and lost and all that rot?" Kara shook her head sadly. "The Goddess gives us love, love like what you and Harry have," she said. "He didna need to say he loved you; it's written all over him. And you love him. You're throwing that away with both hands."

"The Goddess also gives us children, Kara. We're supposed to do right by them too."

"You think breaking up with somebody Ben thinks of almost as a father is doing right by him? Having him bounce back and forth among _three_ parents for a while, till he's used to no seeing Harry so much any more, and then loses him for good? And what about Alec?"

"You think risking what happened last August is the right thing to do?" Draco asked her. "You don't understand just how famous Harry is. Or how infamous I am," he said bitterly. "Besides, it's been pretty obvious for a long time that this was coming. Better to just... get it over with."

Kara shook her head. "This is wrong, Draco. I may not understand everything you explained to me, but I understand enough to know ye're nae doing the right thing. For any of ye."

"I don't know if I'm doing right either. I do know that I've felt guilty the whole time I've been with Harry."

"And that's worth hurting all four of you? Your guilt?"

Draco shrugged. "Better now than later." He left the room, and Kara wandered numbly back to her kitchen, gazed at her dirty dishes and wished she could do magic too. Magic to make this better, take away the pain Ben was going to feel... or at least make Draco see that he was wrong.

Failing magic, she went for the next best thing, picking up the phone and dialing. Needing warmth and gentleness and whatever approached comfort from somebody tonight.

"Trina? Darlin', I was wondering, could you come back and stay the night?"

**ooo000ooo**

**Author's Note 2:** The songs mentioned in this chapter are Shenandoah and Fields of Athenry. Lyrics and downloads can be found at the lyrics page.

**Author's Note 3:** **scrtkpr** points out that **furiosity** apparently used the line "God but men can be catty" in her own WiP just a few days ago, but goes on to say that there's no reason use it here since I wrote this chapter before she posted hers. As she puts it: _You could make mention that you'd written this chapter a month ago and it is entirely the fault of your lame beta that it took so long to post it...lol_

As **scrtkpr** _is_, in fact, my beta, and my beta took so long because she was buried under about two metric tons of her own awesome ficwriting, I think we'll leave the "lame" adjective off, kthxbi ;)


	10. February

**Date:** January 10  
**From:** malfoyd.globalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpotter.gringotts.wzr  
Ben reminded me that Alec was supposed to come over this Saturday.

**_Date:_**_ January 11  
**From:** hjpotter.gringotts.wzr  
**To:** malfoyd.globalcafe.ie  
I'll drop him off at noon. Have you received this year's Beltane information from the Ministry?  
I've talked to Alec about withdrawing from the Dublin choir after the next concert, in case he brings it up._

**Date:** January 13  
**From:** malfoyd.globalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpotter.gringotts.wzr  
I've attached a list of the Muggle groups confirmed for Beltane so far. Alec did bring up choir.

**_Date:_**_ January 14  
**From:** hjpotter.gringotts.wzr  
**To:** malfoyd.globalcafe.ie  
Is he all right with it? He didn't say very much to me.  
I've attached a list of wizard groups confirmed._

**Date:** January 15  
**From:** malfoyd.globalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpotter.gringotts.wzr  
More or less. He's glad he's in the London choir.

**_Date:_**_ January 28  
**From:** hjpotter.gringotts.wzr  
**To:** malfoyd.globalcafe.ie  
When will you be dropping Ben off for the Quidditch game this Saturday? He can stay with us if it goes past nine._

**Date:** January 29  
**From:** malfoyd.globalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpotter.gringotts.wzr  
I've a late meeting with an orchestra so I'll have to drop Ben off at 6, which I know is when the game starts. We'll meet you at the stadium. Please wear amulets.

**_Date:_**_ January 30  
**From:** hjpotter.gringotts.wzr  
**To:** malfoyd.globalcafe.ie  
We will. Don't forget it's at that new place, Pennington Stadium._

**oooOOOooo  
February 2**

Hermione glanced around the stadium, happy to be out of the house and without children, but wishing her first child-free moment in a month wasn't at a Quidditch game. They were here for a good reason, she reminded herself. She and Ron had offered to accompany Harry to this game because he was their best friend, and he needed them right now, and they loved him and wanted to spend time with him. The venue didn't matter.

She gazed at him as he talked quietly to Alec, pointing out parts of the brand new pitch and stadium, and wondered what was going on inside him. How he was doing with the break-up, and how Alec was doing. Wondered if anybody else in the family knew about it yet. Probably not; Harry wasn't terribly talkative lately, and Alec had gone back to his pre-Malfoy near-muteness. Not that it was that big a change - he'd never been terribly chatty - but Hermione wondered if any of the other Weasleys had noticed it yet.

"They're here, Daddy," Alec said, and Hermione turned to look. There was Malfoy, with a small child that Hermione assumed was Ben wearing a NewFace amulet, as Harry and Alec were. Harry let Alec down, and Alec ran to hug Malfoy, then tugged Ben excitedly towards the stadium, excitedly retelling him everything Harry had just shown him. Malfoy stood up, looking rather uncomfortable, as Ben and Alec ran off.

"So you'll come pick him up tomorrow morning?" Harry asked quietly, and Hermione couldn't believe how much it bothered her that he and Malfoy didn't even look at each other.

She'd been so relieved when Harry had told them of the break-up. Finally, one of them had done the right thing. The sensible thing.

Sensible didn't mean easy, though. And while Malfoy seemed fine, Harry was devastated. Hermione hurt for him even as she reminded herself that this was for the best.

Malfoy nodded. "If that's all right," he said. He looked around. "Sorry I was late. Looks like the game'll be starting soon. You'd better go."

Harry nodded, and they turned to go in, calling for the kids.

And then all hell broke loose.

It started with what sounded like a groan, and Hermione looked up to see part of the wall a few yards ahead buckling, and then it was falling and people were screaming. Hermione stood stock-still in shock for a moment before rushing forward to help - it was chaos, people were shouting, wands had come out and protection spells were being flung left and right, like a battle against a non-sentient enemy. She had her wand in hand and was preparing to cast a wall-strengthening spell when she heard another horrible groan. She turned and saw, as if in slow motion, Ron and Harry, who were right behind her, turning to look and the wall behind them collapsing - and Malfoy, Ben and Alec disappearing behind a cloud of dust. Her heart stood still as the three of them raced back, and she gasped in relief as Malfoy emerged from the dust and handed Ben to a wizard who had popped in out of nowhere, then turned back and-

"Hermione! Sto-"

**oooOOOooo**

Hermione woke up to a frantic babble, voices of fear and pain. Over a hundred people were running, sitting, talking, shouting. Patients, St. Mungo's Healers and other hospital employees hurrying here and there, people with Quick Quills and flashing cameras...

She sat up, blinking and trying to make sense of the chaos, and soon realized that most of the people in the waiting room didn't seem hurt. Many were covered in dust, and there was some blood and bandages to be seen, but the majority of people not in Healer robes seemed to be friends and family of those who were hurt. She looked up and saw Ron, Harry, and Malfoy, all of them dusty and wearing St. Mungo's-issue shirts, Malfoy with a black eye and no glasses, and Harry with a large gash over his cheek, his NewFace amulet gone.

"Oh good, you're awake," said Ron, brushing her hair back from her face. "Feeling all right?"

"Fine, fine. What happened?"

"You got in the way of some idiot trying to keep the wall up by Stunning it-"

"I mean at the stadium," Hermione said impatiently.

"New masonry spell gone wrong, far as anyone can tell," said Ron. "There were about fifty people buried under the rubble. It's a miracle nobody was killed."

Hermione stood up. "Alec and Ben?" she said, scared at the way Harry and Malfoy, who had barely acknowledged her return to consciousness, were staring tensely at the treatment area door.

"Both being worked on by Healers." Ron swallowed hard. "A whole team for each of them. There's about twenty people in the same boat."

Hermione nodded distractedly as a Healer entered, scanning the anxious crowd clustered near the door.

"Mr. Potter? Mr. Malfoy?" she said, and Hermione saw a few people do double-takes as they hurried forward.

"How are they?" Malfoy said, his voice tense.

"They're both doing much better than we thought at first," the Healer said reassuringly. "To be honest, with the severity of the injuries, mixed with the magical damage, it didn't look good. But I wanted to let you know that the damage is far less severe than we thought. And it's difficult to say at this moment, but we're fairly sure Ben will recover fully," she said, and Malfoy took a deep breath. "As for Alec..."

Harry stared at her.

"We're doing our best, sir, but... the spells that hold up the stands are very powerful. Having them hit a small child like that, it's..."

"Can I help?" Hermione asked, pushing down her fear. "I - I've worked with Healers before, I have some experience-"

The Healer nodded. "Yes, I know. I recognize you; I was here when... when you joined the team to help Alec's mother." She cleared her throat. "Please understand, though, this is a very different situation, Ms Granger. We know how to handle collapse damage; masonry spells do go wrong sometimes. There's at least four more things we can try before we panic."

Harry blinked, his face becoming expressionless, and Hermione could almost feel him shutting down. Ron closed his eyes and put his head down, breathing deeply.

"There's every expectation that they'll both recover fully," the Healer said gently to Harry and Malfoy. "It looks far more promising than when you first came in. It's just... you also have to be prepared for the worst." And with that, she left, the door swinging closed behind her.

"Who the _hell_ can be prepared for something like this?" Ron muttered angrily.

Hermione shook her head, looking around at the families in the waiting room. "Malfoy," she said suddenly, "have you contacted Kara?"

Malfoy looked at her blankly for a moment. "Kara. No, we were... we weren't sure what was going on..."

"Would you like to?"

"Yes," Malfoy said. "Yes, that would be good. I'm not sure where she is right now... probably at Windbourne records. Erm..." he blinked, frowning slightly.

"Do you want me to call her?" Hermione asked, recognizing the signs of being momentarily stuck between worlds. It was always a bit of an awkward mental switch, no doubt made more difficult by Malfoy's anxiety. "I do know how to use the phone."

Malfoy gave her a slight smile. "Yeah. Thanks." He took out his wallet and pulled out a card, giving it to her, _Kara Greely_ and a string of phone numbers written on it.

"I'll arrange for transportation for her too," said Hermione, glad to have something to do, and went to the Muggle Help Desk, grateful that such a thing was finally available in the wizarding world. Grateful to spend the next fifteen minutes or so working with the witch on duty, getting a hold of Kara and arranging for transportation to St. Mungo's for her.

"She'll be at the Muggle entrance in a few minutes," she told Malfoy as she rejoined the three men. "She was at Windbourne. It's just taking a bit of time to arrange for the Dublin-to-London part of the trip. The Help Desk witch's assistant will tell us when she's arrived at the building; should be any second now. Do you want me to get her?"

Malfoy shook his head. "No, I'll do it. She'll want to know what happened..."

"Ms Granger?" said a young witch, approaching them. "There's a Ms Greely here, a Muggle?"

"Yes, thank you," said Malfoy. "I'll go pick her up."

"Muggle entrance is through the Floo on the left side of the main entrance doors, sir," said the witch, and turned back to Harry as Malfoy hurried away. "Sir, there's a few people here asking to come in, but we've sealed off the area-"

"What?"

"The Wireless just reported the collapse, sir," she explained. "Apparently people also noticed that you were there. We've given some reporters access to the hospital staff, and they're helping get people in contact with families, but we're keeping people away if they appear to be trying to bother you in particular."

"Thank you," said Hermione.

"Two of them say they're relatives, though. Fred and George Weasley?"

"Yes, of course, let them in," said Hermione, then bit her lip and glanced at Harry worriedly, but he didn't seem to have noticed. Didn't do more than nod vaguely at the twins as they came in either, both looking highly worried.

"How's Alec?" asked Fred, and Hermione gave him what information she could.

"M-Malfoy's here too?" asked George.

"Yes, he is - not here right now, he's at the Muggle entrance, picking up Ben's mother."

Ron frowned. "How'd you know Malfoy was here?"

"It's on the Wireless," said Fred. "They're saying he was spotted at the site."

"C-can't make up their minds, though-" began George.

"Somebody said it looked like he set off whatever it was that caused the collapse, but another report said he was pulling people out of the wreckage," Fred finished.

Ron's face darkened. "The setting off part is rubbish," he said vehemently. "It was an accident. Besides, _Ben_ was there. And Malfoy was hurt too. The pulling people out part, I'm not sure, it was pretty confusing-"

"He got Alec," Harry said dully. "That's how he got hurt. He went back under the wall for him. If he hadn't..." He looked up at Fred, seeming to recognize him for the first time.

Fred nodded. "Look, tell me to bugger off if you want," he said quietly. "I know your boyfriend's here, I won't say anything to him. I just want to be here in case... to be near Alec."

Harry shrugged, his eyes back on the door.

"What the hell h-happened?" George asked. As Ron answered, Hermione looked around the crowded room, noting that, now that she could take in the scene more calmly, it didn't seem quite the chaos it had when she'd first arrived. Many of the injured were slowly being allowed to leave, and the atmosphere was now one of impatience and nerves rather than abject fear. The exception, of course, was the group of thirty or so people clustered near the treatment area doors.

"Harry, dear." Hermione looked up to see Molly hurrying towards Harry. Behind her, Arthur, Kara, and Malfoy were entering the waiting room, Kara looking too frightened to be properly aware of the strangeness of the place. Molly hugged Harry, hard, then drew back and looked at him worriedly. "Any news?"

Harry shook his head silently, and Molly gave Hermione a worried look.

"Yes, Floo travel is a little difficult at first, I've heard," Arthur was saying sympathetically to Kara as they drew nearer. "Was that your first time?"

Kara nodded distractedly, glancing around the waiting room. "So... this is a hospital? Is there - is Ben in surgery?"

Malfoy shook his head. "He's with the Healers. He's got spell damage, from the spells that were supposed to be holding up the walls of the stadium. The Healers are optimistic, though." He looked at Harry. "For both of them."

"What... is there anything we need to do? Can we donate blood, anything?"

Hermione smiled as Arthur's eyebrows went up and he almost visibly made a mental note to ask about Muggles and blood donation at a more appropriate time.

"No." Ron shook his head. "Nothing to do now but hurry up and wait."

**oooOOOooo**

Two hours later, the door opened, and a weary-looking elderly Healer came through, followed by a reedy younger man wearing a Trainee Healer badge. They scanned over the people in the waiting room. "Mr. Malfoy? Ms Greely?"

They quickly came forward. "Ben's doing well," the elder Healer said. Malfoy and Kara breathed out simultaneously, and Kara reached for Malfoy's hand. "He's responding very well to the counter spells. He's going to be groggy for the next two days or so, and he'll have to stay in isolation, but he'll be fine."

Malfoy nodded, his face pale, and pulled Kara close as she burst into tears.

"Oh thank the Goddess," she sobbed into his hair. "I thought... it's stupid, I know, they said he'd be all right and I trust them, it's just..."

Malfoy nodded as he held her closer. "Can we see him?" he asked.

"He's in isolation right now, so _no_," the younger Healer said coldly, and Kara looked up at him, puzzled. "We do have rules, you know," he said, eyeing Malfoy disdainfully.

Molly and George drew in their breaths angrily. Malfoy pressed his lips together and looked away.

"Trainee Healer Webster," said the older Healer calmly. "One of the things you need to work on is proper bedside manner with relatives of patients, and one thing that is very clear is that you do not address them in such a tone no matter who they are, even if you believe their question to be a stupid one. Which that one was not. Now, please go and wait for me in my office." He turned to Malfoy, not bothering to see if the startled Trainee Healer had done so. "No, Mr. Malfoy, it is not advisable right now, although we will allow you to record a message to him. I will ask for an aide to bring you a recording scroll."

"Thank you," said Malfoy quietly, still holding on to Kara, who was wiping her tears.

"Mr. Potter, we will let you know as soon as we have any news about Alec," the Healer said, and left.

Malfoy touched Harry's arm.

"That's good. I'm glad Ben's all right," Harry said. Hermione bit her lip at the deadness in Harry's voice and met Malfoy's eyes worriedly.

"Harry... Alec will be all right," said Malfoy. "You heard the Healers, and he was right next to Ben, they-"

"Alec's a lot smaller," Harry said flatly. "He was under for longer."

"He's a fighter, though," said Ron. "Like his dad."

There was a brief silence, and Hermione wondered how many of the others were also desperately trying to think of something encouraging to say to Harry.

"Is... is there a chapel here?" Kara asked quietly.

"Oh, yes, dear, of course there is," Molly said, grabbing at the topic gratefully. "I'll show you there, shall I?"

"Draco?" Kara asked, and Malfoy glanced at Harry, who nodded, before joining Kara. Molly blinked, a bit startled, but merely nodded at Malfoy, and they set off.

Hermione glanced around at the four Weasley men helplessly standing around Harry with no idea how to comfort him, how to reach him, their worry for Alec almost overshadowed by their fear for Harry.

"We may as well sit down again," Arthur said, gently pushing Harry towards the chairs that had been set out for the patients' families.

"Glad B-ben's all right," said George quietly as he, Fred, Hermione, and Ron trailed slowly behind Arthur and Harry.

"Anybody want to place bets on Malfoy sticking around now?" Fred said cynically.

"He will," Ron said, a slight edge to his voice.

"He may have saved Alec's life," Hermione pointed out.

"Fred," George said quietly. "M-Malfoy might not be who you w-want for them, but at least Harry's got s-somebody with him-"

"No, he doesn't," Hermione interrupted.

"What?"

"Harry and Malfoy broke up," Ron said flatly, and George and Fred stopped in their tracks. "About a month ago."

"What?" Fred said.

"Malfoy ditched him," Ron said. "Worried about being seen with him. Trying to shield Ben from bad publicity."

"Good riddance," Fred muttered. "And what a surprise. Always looking out for himself."

"Yeah, he's so good at it that he may have saved Alec's life, in a public place. And then spent two hours in here with Harry, knowing there's reporters around. He didn't have to, you know. He could've asked to go somewhere more private to wait with Kara, I'm sure the staff would've agreed."

"He can't win with you, can he?" Hermione said. "If he's around Harry and Alec, he's bad for them; if he leaves, he's a selfish coward."

"The other reason he left," said Ron tightly, "was he knew he was coming between Harry and us. Selfish prick, isn't he?" He glared at Fred. "So congratulations, Fred. You won." He shook his head in disgust and headed towards Harry and Arthur.

Hermione spared a glance at the twins, George's expression shocked and sorrowful, Fred's unreadable, then hurried to catch up to Ron.

**oooOOOooo**

"Ben, we love you," Kara said, finishing off her message to him. "Mam and Dad canna come in right now, because the spells have to make you better, but we'll be there soon as the doctors say it's all right."

"You'll be all right, Benny," said Malfoy. "The Healers said you might feel bad for a little while, but you'll be better soon. We'll come see you as soon as it's safe." He nodded at the aide, who waved her wand at the scroll. It started to roll up.

"Wait - may I?" Molly asked hesitantly. Kara looked at her, confused. "I just want to let him know we're all thinking of him," she said. "He's such a lovely little boy. You must be so proud of him."

"Aye," Kara said, and the staff person waved her wand at the scroll again.

"Harry, would you like to leave Ben a message too?" Arthur said, and Harry blinked, startled.

"Oh. Yeah, yeah, of course," he said. "Erm... not sure what to... what to say..."

"We'll help you, dear," said Molly, patting his arm comfortingly.

"Come sit," Hermione said to Malfoy and Kara, as Molly, Arthur and Harry began recording their messages.

"Ben will be able to hear our voices? From that paper?" Kara asked skeptically.

"It's just like a CD," Malfoy said. "Except you don't need a machine to play it for you; just a wand."

"How is... how is Harry doing?" Kara asked worriedly, her voice low.

"He's terrified," said Ron. "Haven't seen him this out of it since..." he shook his head, trailing off.

"But the Healers said it's nae so serious as-"

"It's n-not that," George said. "It's not the s-seriousness. Harry knows Alec'll most p-probably be all right. It's..." he cleared his throat.

"It's just too much like the day Ginny died," Fred said flatly, and George's eyes filled with tears as Fred finally spoke what they'd all been trying to avoid thinking. "Part of why Bill and Percy didn't want to be here. Too much déjà vu. Not that Harry won't be thinking it anyway." Malfoy nodded, gazing at Harry, and Hermione could almost feel his need to go to him. "Fuck," said Fred, shaking his head, "it's just like that day-" he stopped as the treatment area door opened, and Hermione's heart skipped a beat. It had opened several times in the last half hour, and although it was comforting to note that the relatives and friends the Healers talked to had almost all seemed relieved, and some had left smiling, the tension was getting higher as the crowd thinned around them.

"Mrs. McClachan?" said the Healer, and an elderly witch rushed to the door. Hermione recalled that the Healers had not seemed very reassuring when they had last spoken to her, but her heart still sank as the Healer spoke and the woman gave a low cry and closed her eyes, covering her mouth. Hermione could feel the fear in the air getting thicker as all of those left in the waiting area desperately tried to hold on to hope, and the old woman began to cry. Harry had gone pale, and he approached their chairs and sat down, his breathing shallow.

"Harry," Malfoy said gently. Harry didn't acknowledge him. Malfoy crouched down before Harry, looking up at him and touching his knee. "He'll be all right. You heard the Healers when they first came to talk to that woman. They didn't have much hope for her husband. With Alec, they do." Harry kept looking at the floor, face utterly blank, and Malfoy sighed and started to get up. Harry suddenly covered Malfoy's hand with his, holding him in place.

Malfoy glanced around the room nervously, but he didn't draw back, didn't pull away.

"Ms Greely? Mr. Malfoy?" Another Healer was standing at the treatment area door. "We've arranged cots for you near Ben's room so you can rest a bit, and be a bit closer to him. Get you out of the waiting area, anyway."

Kara nodded, standing up. "Draco?" she said softly. "Are you coming?"

Malfoy hesitated, then shook his head. "I'll be there later."

Kara nodded and gave him a hug, looking at Harry worriedly for a moment before following the Healer out.

"I can't do this," Harry said softly.

Malfoy gazed at Harry worriedly and sat down next to him, a comforting hand on his shoulder, and Hermione watched them as Malfoy murmured to him quietly.

Breaking up had been the right thing to do. The sensible thing.

Harry was nodding, his gaze unfocussed, then his forehead creased and he bowed his head, drawing in on himself. Malfoy pulled Harry into his arms, both closing their eyes as Harry clung to him desperately, his breathing laboured. "I can't..." Harry choked out. "If he, if he... he's only five, I can't lose him too..."

"You won't. You won't, he'll be fine," murmured Malfoy.

Hermione's throat closed up, and she grabbed Ron's hand, fear and sorrow flooding her as Harry struggled to not break down. Ron squeezed her hand, clearing his throat and wiping at his eyes quickly.

"Ms Granger?" Hermione turned to see a Healer looking apologetic.

"Yes?"

"You had offered to help in case we needed you for Alec Potter - he's all right," the Healer said swiftly. "His healing's going well. But we're having a bit of trouble with another patient; she's got some odd interaction of spells that look like they might be Ministry-related. Would you mind..."

Hermione hesitated, and Ron touched her shoulder. "Go on," he said. "You know it'll calm your nerves to be able to use your brain for a bit. We're all just waiting here."

Hermione smiled at him gratefully, hugging him tightly before following the Healer into the treatment area.

**oooOOOooo**

Two hours later, she was back in the waiting room, which was now visibly emptier than before. Only a small group of people were still left in the area set aside for families of the stadium collapse victims. Arthur had apparently persuaded Harry to take a short walk outside with him, Ron and George had dozed off in their chairs, and Molly had somehow managed to procure knitting needles and was busily knitting a small sweater. Malfoy was staring out one of the windows, his arms crossed, a thoughtful look on his face, and Fred was contemplating the floor with a blank expression. Hermione sank down next to Molly, and they chatted quietly, Hermione telling her about the case she'd just assisted with, and Molly letting her know that the news on Alec was still good and Ben was still in isolation.

Suddenly Fred got up, joining Malfoy at the window.

"Listen, I need to talk to you," he said curtly. Malfoy looked wary and glanced at Hermione, who left Molly in mid-sentence and hurried towards them, standing next to Malfoy with her arms crossed. Because if Fred was going to take this opportunity, _now_, to go after Malfoy again, she wasn't going to let it happen without a fight.

Fred stared at her for a long moment, then turned back to Malfoy, apparently deciding not to bother asking her to leave. He cleared his throat.

"Ginny was our favourite sibling, you know," he began abruptly. "George's and mine. She was - she had a hell of a sense of humour, and even though she was the baby, she could put us in our place." He took a deep breath. "When George was cursed, she was all that kept me from going insane. I don't know what I would've done without her." He took another deep breath. "When, erm, when she died, it was fucking unfair, you know? The war was over and somehow we'd all survived, even though all of us had been in the Order. We weren't supposed to have to worry about our safety any more. And then all of a sudden she was gone."

He cleared his throat. "The only thing we could do for her was take care of Alec and Harry for her. We've done our best; we don't understand Alec, but there's not one of us that wouldn't give anything for him. He sort of belongs to all of us. And so does Harry."

Malfoy was looking at him expressionlessly.

"What I'm trying to say is... they're both important to us." He looked away. "And some of us haven't done so well letting go and seeing when we're trying to protect them but we're actually hurting them. And when I say we I mostly mean me." He paused, meeting Malfoy's eyes again. "I'm trying to say I'm sorry, Malfoy."

Malfoy stared at him.

"I've been in your way. I didn't want to accept you. And I'm sorry."

Malfoy nodded cautiously.

"You're - I won't ever like you, and I won't ever forgive you for what you did before. But I won't come between you and Harry." He glanced around the waiting room. "Can't speak for the rest of the wizarding world, of course. If you were hoping to stay anonymous..."

"Harry and I aren't together any more," Malfoy said quietly.

Fred nodded. "I know. But... maybe you should be." He stopped, grimacing at his own words. "Look, if you broke up because things just didn't work out between you, that's... that's too bad. But if you broke up with him because you didn't want publicity, or you didn't want to deal with our family..." Fred paused, shook his head. "Look, you don't understand. Harry's going to be a mess over this. He won't know what to do if Alec's permanently injured. He'll need all the help he can get, and if you're part of that and that helps him, so be it."

Malfoy nodded slowly.

Fred turned to go back to the others, then stopped. "One thing, though." He met Malfoy's eyes seriously. "You ever hurt Alec, or Harry, and the Aurors won't ever be able to find your body. Is that clear?"

**oooOOOooo**

There were only three groups left in their corner of the waiting room. Two men waiting for news of their uncle, a witch with three grown children, waiting for news of her husband, and Alec's family. Hermione rubbed her eyes and stifled a yawn, glad that Malfoy had finally been able to persuade Harry to try to get some sleep. Harry was moving restlessly in his chair and there was a small line between his eyebrows, and it didn't seem a particularly peaceful slumber, but it was at least better than the endless pacing that had preceded it. Malfoy sat beside him, his own eyelids drooping, and Hermione wondered what was going on inside him. What he thought about what Fred had said. What he was thinking about Alec. About Harry.

She turned as the door to the treatment area opened and an exhausted-looking Healer came out.

"Mr. Potter?" she said softly, and somehow Ron and George and Arthur were all instantly awake, as was Harry, standing up unsteadily, his face going pale, unconsciously reaching for Malfoy's hand. Malfoy took it and stood up with him, and they approached the Healer together.

**ooo000ooo**

**Author's Note 1:** **leochi** made a beautiful picture of Draco and Ben that just... aaaaw :) :) :) It's exactly Ben as I pictured him, and Draco as I wish I could draw him :)

leochi dot livejournal dot com slash 90934 dot html

Don't forget to convert all dots and slashes to real dots and slashes, and take out the spaces between the words in the address. Click on the picture to see a bigger version.

**Author's Note 2:** I keep meaning to post this note, and keep forgetting to.

The format I chose for this fic had very strict limits. Each chapter had to take place over one day, one day per month, with only one point of view per chapter (3 Draco, 3 Harry, 6 Other Characters), and every chapter had to be 5,000 words. There were a lot of reasons I put those constraints on myself, and I'm glad I did because it's been a highly educational writing experience.

However. Doing this closed off many possibilties, such as scenes that couldn't happen on the same day but might be pretty important, or missing points of view that could shed a lot of light on what was going on in the background, or in the main character's heads. I really wish, for example, that I'd been able to find some way of showing Draco's interrogation under Veritaserum.

My point - and I do have one - is that if there's anything I've missed that _you_ might have liked to see, please try to remember what it was. After I'm done posting the story I will make an Ember to Ember DVD-Extras Request post. You can tell me what you missed on that post. Please don't tell me beforehand, because I'm a ginormous twit with the memory and organizational skills of a goldfish, so it'll get promptly lost. I do not guarantee to write every request I get - I've still got one pinch-hit, three WiPs, and two TimeStamp meme requests sitting on my hard drive, all of which I deeply hope to post some day and all of whom periodically poke at me and suck me in. However, I promise to at least read the requests over, and consider them, and give each one a fair try :) 


	11. March

**Author's Note:** Hey! We're almost done! In fact, I am done; just need to fiddle around with the last chapter, which means that unless I lose my internet connection, it will be up before May 1, which was my self-imposed deadline. Phew!

Anyway, you know the drill by now. This is Ember to Ember, the sequel to Volunteers (fic written for hdsbeltane), which is supposed to be taking place in 2007/2008, and is _this close_ to catching up to itself in time ;) Concrit is warmly appreciated. Thanks hugely to scrtkpr for beta, times two!

**oooOOOooo**

**Date:** February 7  
**From: **malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpottergringotts.wzr  
Ben's finally being released tomorrow, and wants to visit Alec. Can he come?

**_Date:_**_ February 7  
**From:** hjpottergringotts.wzr  
**To:** malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
We'd love to see him. There'll be a few Weasley cousins over though, and Demelza's got a shift._

**Date:** February 7  
**From: **malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpottergringotts.wzr  
A shift?

**_Date:_**_ February 8  
**From:** hjpottergringotts.wzr  
**To:** malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
Percy worked out a schedule for keeping Alec company while he recovers. It's even colour-coded. He did the same thing after Alec was born, having somebody in our house nearly every hour of the day._

**Date:** February 8  
**From: **malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpottergringotts.wzr  
Sounds disturbingly organized. And a little bit wrong.

**_Date:_**_ February 8  
**From****:** hjpottergringotts.wzr  
**To:** malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
That's Percy._

**_Date:_**_ February 10  
**From:** hjpottergringotts.wzr  
**To:** malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
Did you think about it?_

**Date:** February 10  
**From: **malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpottergringotts.wzr  
I did.  
Yes.

**Date:** March 13  
**From: **malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpottergringotts.wzr  
There's been an extra rehearsal scheduled Saturday till one.

**_Date:_**_ March 13  
**From:** hjpottergringotts.wzr  
**To:** malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
We weren't planning on starting till one anyway. Do you want to have Ben stay the night Friday?_

**Date:** March 14**  
From: **malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpottergringotts.wzr  
Good idea.

**_Date:_**_ March 18  
**From:** hjpottergringotts.wzr  
**To:** malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
See you Saturday.  
Nervous?_

**Date:** March 18  
**From: **malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpottergringotts.wzr  
Rather.

**_Date:_**_ March 19  
**From:** hjpottergringotts.wzr  
**To:** malfoydglobalcafe.ie  
Me too._

**oooOOOooo**

**March 22**

"I thought Draco was going to be here this morning," said Alec, moving aside a box and digging into his breakfast.

"Not until later," Harry said, hovering over his son as he and Ben ate. Unable to stop himself from cutting Alec's sausage into tiny morsels and watching over him like a hawk, though at least he no longer held his breath in fear of Alec choking, every time Alec took a drink.

Happily, Alec didn't seem to notice the hovering, much less mind it. Harry smiled as Alec carefully spread jam on his toast; smoothed down Alec's hair and straightened the small glasses Alec now wore, the only possibly permanent aftereffect of the spell damage he'd suffered. The Healers were cautiously optimistic about the chances of Alec's eyesight eventually correcting itself. In the meantime, Alec could see well enough without them, but needed them to see details, such as music on a page.

It could've been so much worse. For the first few agonizing days that Alec had been kept mostly unconscious while Healing charms worked on him, they'd feared that his hearing might have been affected. Harry was still having nightmares about that.

Oddly, Alec had had a much easier time recovering than Ben had, despite having been more severely injured. Alec hadn't much minded his inability to run about and play normally for a couple of weeks; Ben, a normally very easygoing kid, had been by turns whiny, teary, and irritable as his forced bedrest prevented him from doing anything fun. Draco and Kara had been at their wit's end with him, especially as he'd been confined to St. Mungo's two days longer than Alec had been.

"I want me Da," Ben now sulked, pushing aside another box impatiently. "Why can't he be here too?"

"Because he's working today," Harry said patiently, pouring him some pumpkin juice. Distraction was what worked best on Ben, Draco had said. "Are you looking forward to the party? There'll be lots of kids there to play with."

"And the baby will be there too," said Alec. Ben's face brightened slightly. "Did you know there's going to be another baby soon? Uncle Percy said." Alec suddenly wrinkled his nose. "Will Michelle be there?"

"It's a Weasley birthday party, Alec. Everyone will be there," Harry reminded him, making himself sound cheerful at the prospect.

**oooOOOooo**

"Where is everybody?" Alec asked as soon as they arrived.

"All the kids are out front," said Fred, and Alec started to run off.

"Alec! Not so fast!" Harry said automatically, immediately biting his lip. Alec was fine. He wasn't like Ben, who kept over-exerting himself and ending up with blinding headaches.

"Now, Ben," said Harry, going down on one knee. "You need to behave, right? I've put a tracing spell on you in case you forget. If you're doing too much it'll call me to you. We don't want your Da to get worried about you, right?"

Ben nodded, but his mind was very obviously far away as his eyes darted around the yard and he jiggled up and down while Harry spoke.

"Promise - Ben, look at me." Harry paused. "Promise me you'll try to remember?"

"Promise!"

"Off you go, then," said Harry, and Ben sped off.

"Yeah, good luck with that," said Fred, chuckling. "Bets on when the spell goes off?"

"Harry!" said Charlie, grinning and handing him a beer. "It's been a while."

"Thanks. Got in from Romania all right?" Harry asked, opening the bottle.

"Got in this morning, staying till Monday." Charlie took a long pull of his beer, gazing out at the crowd. "Merlin but these kids grow fast when you only see them every three months or so."

"Looks like almost everybody's already here," Harry noted.

"Except for the birthday boys," Hermione smirked.

"Bets on what they've done this time?" Fred asked, his eyes bright with amusement.

"Shaved a cat again?" said Hermione.

"Got into your shop's fireworks?" guessed Ron.

"Conjured a banshee," said Percy.

"They're four," his wife protested.

"They're Weasley twins," Fred shot back.

"You know," said Anne, "it's not exactly kind of you to get this amused when George is dealing with their mischief."

"Because George is a study in sympathy when Michelle's in trouble?"

"True enough," Anne laughed, and turned as the Floo flared to life and George came out, carrying one of his boys.

"Finally!" Charlie exclaimed.

"So what was it this time?" asked Harry.

George rolled his eyes and set his son down, then got out of the way as his wife Demelza came through with the other twin and set him down too. He straightened up as the boys raced off.

"G-got into the prototype Christmas s-supplies," he said with a grimace.

"Oh no," Fred groaned. "Not the-"

"Oh yes. The T-twelve Days."

"There were eight mauve cows mooing through our living room," said Demelza. "And maids and lords and so-called 'ladies,' and bloody bagpipers, _nine of them_..."

"Our entire b-back yard is a river of birdshit-"

"George!" warned Molly.

"Bird d-droppings," George amended. "S-so glad they're sleeping over here tonight," he said cheerfully, and Harry noted Molly's slight blanch. "And th-they know it's their birthday, too. S-so they're being especially imaginative. Have f-fun, Mum." He gave her a kiss on the cheek and a beaming smile.

**oooOOOooo**

"So, what time is Malfoy done?" asked Bill a while later, as they finished repairing the enchanted dishwasher, which Arthur had been tinkering with again. It had become angry and begun swearing inventively and chewing plates, just before the guests had arrived.

"One," said Harry, taking the silence spell off.

"Nervous?" Bill asked, leaning against the now happily humming dishwasher.

"Shouldn't I be?"

"It'll be all right," Bill reassured him. "The wards are good, we've both checked them."

"I'm not worried about the wards," said Harry. "Although the ones you put on his place were a good idea, by the way."

"They went off?" Bill asked, concerned.

"Nothing serious," Harry said quickly. "Just some twit who wanted to break Draco's windows. And at least it convinced Draco to make his job a Secret." He moved aside as Demelza hurried into the kitchen, pulling a small unlabelled chocolate-coated twin towards the sink.

"Yeah," Bill said. "Working with Muggles... not a good place to be unprotected."

"Has it been that bad?" asked Demelza, scrubbing the little boy's face, as George and Charlie came in dragging the other, equally chocolatey twin. Harry briefly wondered where they'd found chocolate; as far as he knew, the birthday cake had been well hidden. He probably didn't want to know.

"Most of it's just been stupid," he told Demelza. "Nasty letters, a few people trying to write 'Death Eater' on his door. Which would've puzzled the hell out of his Muggle neighbours. But there's always the risk of somebody with a serious grudge." Harry smiled at her. "It's been loads better than it could've been, though. Erm... I never did thank you. For what you said in the paper."

George and his wife frowned in slight puzzlement. "What we... oh!" said Demelza. "The article the week after the stadium collapse?"

"Yeah." That article had appeared when both boys were still very sick and public reaction had been at its most difficult, as the papers speculated on whether or not Draco had destroyed part of the stadium, despite experts saying that the masonry spells had been badly cast and had nothing to do with Draco. The disagreement between the pieces that said he'd orchestrated the whole thing and the ones that said he'd saved the lives of fifty strangers would've been amusing if it hadn't been so stupid.

Thankfully, the articles had finally begun to taper off. The solid front of Weasley support about the whole affair had helped a great deal.

"Which one were we in again?" asked Demelza. "_The Boy Who Loved a Death Eater_ or _Harry Potter's Mystery Man Revealed_?"

"They're all the s-same," said George. "Think it w-was the one where they dug up his p-prison record."

"Oh, Bill sent me a copy of that," said Charlie. "It wasn't half bad. At least it was relatively balanced."

Harry nodded, remembering the expression on Draco's face when he'd seen, for the first time, words praising him for his actions at the stadium collapse. People he'd never met, pointing out that perhaps the former Death Eater had paid his debt to society and should be left in peace. He couldn't help but wonder how much those words had done to make Draco approach him as he had a few hours later, a hesitant look in his eyes and a half-spoken apology for having walked out on Harry.

He hadn't let Draco finish the apology. It wasn't necessary. The kiss they'd shared instead had said it all, and much more.

"Speaking of newspapers," said Demelza, startling Harry out of some very pleasant memories, "your dad asked me to gather some for papier mache." She released her now cleanish little boy.

"Papeer what?" said George.

"Muggle craft. Uses newspapers and glue to make sculptures. Your dad wants to try it with the kids. He said there should be some behind the pantry - oh Merlin." She stared at a stack of newspapers slightly taller than she was, teetering behind the pantry door.

"Why not just use P-plastiCharm?"

"It's a Muggle thing," said Demelza, as George struggled with his almost chocolate-free son. "I think he's hoping it'll distract them from causing more mayhem."

"Has he _met_ our b-boys?" he asked with a resigned sigh, as he let go of his son and moved to gather up newspapers.

"George, Dad wants - oh, you've heard," said Percy, entering the kitchen. "Need help?"

"You could t-try to talk Dad out of it. N-newspapers and glue. What a winning c-combination."

"And it's Muggle glue that Dad got from the village," Percy said. "Unstick spells don't work on it."

"Oh Merlin."

"I asked him if he was aware your boys and Michelle were all here. He seemed to think I was being funny."

"Right, Mum's finally gone round the twist," said Fred, entering the kitchen. "Dad wants to do a kid's craft that involves newspaper and glue, and Mum thinks it'll be lovely."

"Oh look, here it is," said Demelza, brandishing an old newspaper. "_Potter's __Mystery__Man._" Harry looked over her shoulder.

_"How do you feel about a Death Eater being involved with your sister's widower?"_

_"Feel like it's none of your business," says George Weasley, "and maybe you should stick to reporting about people who are actually a danger to Muggles, instead of a bloke who's been teaching Muggles and working with Muggle kids for four years."_

_"They've been together eight months, and he makes Harry happy, and he loves Harry's son," says Demelza Robbins-Weasley, his wife. "That's all I need to know."_

_"And we've got a sale going on. We've a few new lines for April Fool's-"_

"Oh shit," Charlie said, and Harry caught sight of an owl flying into the kitchen with a red letter in its beak seconds before it dropped the envelope and sped away. He blinked, startled, as the envelope unfolded itself in front of him and a shrill voice shrieked out "**HARRY POTTER! WHAT ARE YOU _THINKING_?! SLEEPING WITH A KNOWN _DEATH EATER_, ALLOWING YOUR _SON_ TO GROW UP WITH-"**

Percy flicked a wand at the paper and it burst into flame.

"Thanks," said Harry, his face reddening. Percy gave him a grim look and stalked off with an armful of papers.

Fred grimaced. "Not that anybody here couldn't sympathize with - OW!" He rubbed the back of his head, where Bill had just cuffed him. "What the bloody hell was that for?"

"Grow up," Bill said curtly, then turned his back on him. Fred made a rude gesture at his back and a vague wave of apology to Harry before leaving with another armful of papers. "I knew we were forgetting something," Bill said to Harry. "Howler wards."

"How could you forget those?" Charlie asked irately.

"Simple, mate. We've been concentrating on dangerous or painful. Howlers are neither, except to your ears."

"Besides," said Harry, "they mostly come to our homes or where we work. We've warded those."

"Aren't you worried about all of this?" Charlie said.

"So far there's only been two incidents that could've been dangerous if they went wrong," Bill said. "Of course we're keeping an eye out for deliberately harmful stuff, but so far there's been nothing. I think most people got out their anger with letters to the editor."

"There's been good letters too," Hermione pointed out. "It's about half and half."

"Like at this house," Harry said.

George glanced at the door where his twin had exited and nodded thoughtfully. "He's g-getting better," he pointed out. "At least he's m-making an effort."

Harry shrugged. Better would have to be good enough, he supposed. He blinked as he heard a soft chime in his ear - oh no. Ben's trace charm was going off. Not badly; that would set off a jangling klaxon. But Ben was getting agitated, and Harry hurried in the direction the spell pulled him, his alarm growing as he heard Alec's voice rising. He rushed into the front yard and stopped short at the sight of Ben and Alec, facing off against Bill's eight-year-old Remy and Fred's daughter Michelle, with half a dozen other cousins grouped around them, staring at the confrontation.

"He's a Death Eater!" Remy yelled.

"No he's not!" Alec shouted back, his face almost as red as his hair, and Harry was stunned. _His_ timid little Alec, furious and shouting down a much older child. Beside him, Ben's mouth was open and his grayish-hazel eyes were wide and shocked.

"My dad says _nobody_ ever stops being a Death Eater!" sneered Michelle.

"Well he's wrong!"

"Your dad's still just a stupid Death Eater!" Remy yelled at Ben, and before Harry could react, Alec had hit the older boy, who looked literally gobsmacked for a moment before pulling his hand back to slug Alec right back - and then Ben and Michelle started to move - and suddenly about a half-dozen voices were crying out and parenting spells were flying across the yard.

_Petrificus__ Totalis!_

_Gelium__!_

_Silencio__!_

Harry stared at the frozen tableau before him: Alec with his fist still raised, Remy starting to lunge towards him, Ben and Michelle poised to join in. He heard a moan of dismay and turned to see Molly shaking her head, and almost all of the other adults staring at the frozen children as well.

Bill's face was flushed with anger as he pushed past Harry, striding towards his son. "_Finite Incantatum_," he said, then grabbed Remy's arm and gave him a shake. "I don't want to hear anything like that from you _ever_ again!" he shouted at the startled boy. He turned and practically dragged Remy into the house. "You and I are going to have a long, long talk about this. And then you are bloody well going to apologize to Ben! This is _not_ how we treat guests at this house!"

Harry swiftly moved towards Alec and Ben, unfreezing them and taking them both in his arms. Alec was still trembling with anger, Ben's charm still jangling discordantly in Harry's ear.

"He shouldn't have said-" Alec began, his voice shaking, and Harry nodded.

"I know, Alec. It's all right, Remy's dad's going to talk to him." He briefly considered bringing up the punch Alec had thrown, and decided to leave it for later. "Ben, are you all right?"

Ben shook his head, his eyes wide and his mouth starting to tremble, and Alec patted his back as Harry's heart sank. What the hell could he say, how could he make this better...

"Ben, dear, it's all right, don't worry about them," Molly said, kneeling down next to them. Harry let out his breath in gratitude. Molly Weasley on a tear was a fearsome sight for adult and child alike, but Harry knew firsthand the kind of motherly comfort she could provide.

"They hate me Da!" Ben said, his voice tight. "I don't want to stay here!"

Molly drew him close. "_I_ want you to stay here. So do Alec, and Jason, and baby Joshua, and Harry..."

Harry sat back as Molly cuddled Ben and murmured to him quietly, stroking his hair, then stood up, still holding him.

"Let's go see if the little twins managed to find any of the biscuits I hid, shall we?" she said, and held out her hand to Alec, who took it. They headed inside.

"... and Mum says he's going to grow up just like his dad," came Michelle's angry voice, and Harry whipped around and opened his mouth to take a strip out of her-

"You will apologize to Ben right now," Fred told her, his voice dangerously quiet. "And then you will get your cloak, and we are going home." Michelle gaped at him. "Move. _Now._"

Michelle blinked, looked around at the grim adult faces surrounding her, pressed her lips together and stomped into the house.

"So now we're going to punish her for saying what she's feeling?" Anne said icily.

Fred's eyes narrowed. "You're going to disagree? She can say whatever shit she wants, to a kid who hasn't done anything wrong, and that's just fine?"

"I can't help it if she acts on what she's feeling and what she believes!"

"What _you_ believe, you mean-"

"How about taking this to D-dad's shed?" George said brightly, and, without bothering to look at him, both of them Disapparated.

"The bloody hell was that about?" Charlie asked, blinking.

George and Demelza exchanged a look. "Fred and Anne have... they've had an interesting few months," said Demelza.

"The things I miss, being in Romania," Charlie muttered.

"Erm, no, we've missed it too, I think," said Ron, frowning. "What's wrong with them?"

"Not much, any more. They're doing a lot better," said Demelza. "It was just... interesting, for a while."

"What happened?"

Demelza shook her head. "They had a... disagreement. A few months back." George cleared his throat warningly. "That's all. Just a... private disagreement."

"Private?" said Hermione skeptically. "In this family?"

Fred and Anne's raised voices could now be heard over the clucking of the chickens in the yard. "Oh Merlin there they go again," Demelza said to George. "Think we'll have company on our couch again tonight?"

"Hope not," George sighed.

"I hate to say it," Ron said, "but it's hard to feel too much sympathy for him. With everything he's been saying since forever? It was bound to come back to bite him in the arse eventually."

"You know what, Ron?" Demelza said evenly. "You were thinking the exact same things. We all were. It's just that Fred said them out loud a lot more."

Ron opened his mouth and Harry put up a hand. "Ron. Don't." He took a deep breath. "Maybe we should just not talk about this anymore. There's been enough bad feeling over it to keep us all arguing forever otherwise." And he firmly closed his mouth and started to head indoors.

"Well s-said, mate," said George quietly, and gave him a comforting clap on the back as Harry went past him to check on his boys.

**oooOOOooo**

"Ben's certainly made himself a place among them, hasn't he?" Hermione said a while later, smiling at the unbelievably filthy horde of glue-covered children in the backyard. Arthur was sitting among them, surrounded by misshapen papier mache animals and grinning like some demented glue elemental, soggy newspaper stuck to him in the oddest places, culminating in a tower on top of his head. Molly stood horrified at the back door.

"The only cousin to know anything about papier mache," Ron said, chuckling. "Who would've ever believed someday Malfoy's kid would be teaching ours the finer points of a Muggle craft?"

"I'm sure not having Michelle there helps too," said Hermione. "How's Alec?"

"Good." Harry bit his lip uncertainly. "Although... erm..."

"I wouldn't worry about the punch," she said, reading his concern accurately. "You can talk to him about it tomorrow."

"Hold on," Ron said. "Aren't you always lecturing me about 'discipline has to follow the misbehaviour immediately'?"

"That's because very young children don't tend to recall their misbehaviour very well," she said. "I doubt Alec will forget punching Remy. Besides, he was just standing up for his friend."

"And what happened to 'violence is never an answer'?"

"Extraordinary circumstances," she said crisply. "Speaking of which," she checked her watch. "Draco should be done work now, right?"

Harry nodded nervously. "We'd better get going, then," he said, and went to say goodbye to Alec and Ben, as Ron and Hermione got ready to go as well.

"They'll be all right, dear," said Molly, as he hugged a very sticky Alec. "I've got Ben's spell on me now, and there's pumpkin pasties as soon as we're done cleaning up here." She glanced around the yard and sighed. "Or at least done ungluing the children who are stuck together."

"Thanks," he told her, hugged Ben and stood up, determined not to worry about them. "Now you be good to your grandparents, and don't get into any trouble," he told them firmly. Both boys nodded absently, but Harry could tell the promise of pumpkin pasties was too much for them to be able to hear a word he said.

"Thanks for offering to come help," said Harry to Bill as they headed towards the Floo. "It'll be good to have another curse-breaker there."

"Say 'ello to Malfoy for me," said Fleur uncomfortably, in an attempt at graciousness that would've sounded better with a slightly less sour expression on her face.

Harry fastened his cloak and entered the living room, stopping short at the sight of George and Charlie next to the Floo, also wearing traveling cloaks.

"Where are you..."

"We're coming with you," said Charlie cheerfully.

Harry blinked.

"Come on, mate. The more the merrier, let's go."

Harry cleared his throat, embarrassed at how touched he was by their gesture of support. "Let's go then," he said, and one by one all six of them stepped through the Floo.

**oooOOOooo**

"I honestly didn't think we'd get this finished today," said Draco at the end of the day, fresh from the shower and rubbing his hair dry.

"It helps to have five helpers," said Harry. "And magic."

"Still."

They looked around.

"You're sure about this?" Harry said nervously, and Draco gave him a small smile.

"Of course not," he said quietly, a kiss taking away the bluntness of his words. "Obviously, I'm happy about it, but... it's a big step. I keep thinking it hasn't been long enough since..."

"It's been almost seventeen years," Harry said with a smile. "If you count from the day we met."

Draco rolled his eyes. "All right, then, it's been seventeen years." He chuckled. "So. What took us so long?"

"Come on." Harry took his hand, and they walked around the flat together. They looked into the kids' room, set up with a bunk bed. The guest room, which could become a bedroom if the boys decided they wanted separate rooms. The living room, dining room, study. The place was a comforting mixture of furniture from both of their flats, though less from Draco's, as his would still need the appearance of being lived in until the school term ended in Dublin. Muggles, having no Floos, would be unable to understand Draco commuting from London to Dublin to teach every day.

It would've been nice if this decision had been made more by choice than necessity, thought Harry as they surveyed their living room. But the publicity had been difficult for Draco to deal with on his own, and the thought of Ben being in any danger was frightening. And considering the fact that Harry could easily access security from the Ministry, Gringotts, and the Weasley family...

It had been a difficult decision, as they'd weighed pros and cons, and relative risks, costs, and benefits. Truth to tell, Harry was unsure about it as well, and wished they'd had more time to ponder the move. Most of all, he wished that they'd made the decision solely because of love and commitment, and not safety or practicality.

Then again, once children entered the picture, no decision could ever be free of safety or practicality. Pure romance was for people who didn't have dependants. And besides, there was still room for romance along the edges of practicality; they just had to work a bit to find it.

He watched Draco absently rearrange the cushions on their sofa and had to agree that Draco had been right; the dark blue one did look better beside the piano. The move had gone well, though there hadn't been much of the spontaneous camaraderie that was the norm at a gathering of Weasleys. That was probably only natural; Draco wasn't a Weasley, after all. And Merlin knew that, despite the newly welcoming attitude of some of Harry's family, the past wasn't buried by any stretch of the imagination, and the present that they were all building together was fragile. It was threatened by publicity and exposure, by Harry's anxiety over Alec, by the issues Draco still hadn't dealt with regarding his past, as well as the normal pitfalls that threatened any relationship...

He moved towards Draco and pulled him close, nuzzling his neck. He breathed in the scent of soap and clean, warm skin, feeling Draco respond to him, and was suddenly struck by the realization that tomorrow they were going to wake up together, and he'd go pick up their kids from the Burrow, and Draco would be waiting for them when they got back. Not just for another few hours before Draco and Ben had to return to their flat in time for Draco to go to work on Monday morning, but for the rest of the day. And then they'd both go to work on Monday, but would see each other Monday night. And Tuesday night. And Wednesday night.

He shivered, suddenly overwhelmed. There it was again, that feeling that this wasn't quite real, that he was risking his heart, _again_, and if the stadium collapse had shown him anything it was that he couldn't deal with another loss in his life. Not again. He couldn't lose Alec, and he couldn't lose Draco or Ben either.

And now he was shaking, and he felt like such an idiot. Draco had been there for him during the nightmare of the hospital, and he'd clung to him unselfconsciously to get through that, but this was different. There was no reason for this panic, for the fear that was racing through him.

"Harry," Draco whispered into his neck. "What's wrong?"

He tried to get himself under control again, and suddenly had a vivid image of holding Draco close as he cried after telling Ben about his past, before Draco had gotten himself back together again and pushed Harry away.

Bloody hell, he thought, trying to calm down. He'd been able to keep his fears at bay since the accident, each time telling himself this wasn't the right time to indulge in a little breakdown; first had been the worry for Alec's hearing, then the stress of his recovery, coupled with the bloody publicity, and preparing for the move, and... and now there was nothing but them, here, but it still wasn't the time for this. He probably should pull back again, just as Draco had done.

And it would probably work just as well for him as it had for Draco.

He pulled Draco closer instead. "Just feeling. Erm. Scared that this isn't going to work. Scared that - that I won't be able to cope if you... if you leave. I can't really lose you again. I'm a bit of a mess over it, to be honest."

Draco went very still.

Harry started to pull back, mortified. "Don't," whispered Draco, tightening his grip. He hesitated, then plunged on. "I'm... a bit of a mess too." He laughed shakily, uncertainly. "D'you think we can put ourselves together? Your mess and mine?" He pulled Harry closer. "I... I love you. I told you, I'm not going anywhere. Not again."

Harry nodded wordlessly, his throat tight.

"This isn't quite happily ever after, is it?" Draco said softly.

Harry gave a shaky laugh of his own. "It's close enough." He kissed Draco again, then cleared his throat. "OK, well, if we're done talking for now... we've got a bedroom to christen."

And Draco smiled.

**oooOOOooo**

**Author's Note:** The Twelve Days Wheezes item is based on

www dot links2love dot com slash Christmas underscore letter dot htm

Don't forget you need to take out the spaces and replace each "dot" with a period and each "slash" with a slash sign. I hate ff dot net sometimes.


	12. April

**Author's Note:** Yeah, so this is the last chapter. And since this story is supposed to be taking place in 2007/2008, y'all can imagine that this chapter is happening... well, right now. Somewhere in an AU where Deathly Hallows didn't happen in quite the same way, what with some folks not being very dead, and others regrettably unavailable for an Epilogue ;)

Thanks hugely to **scrtkpr** for betaing this twice, again, and to **naatz**, for wonderful beta as well :) :)

Now, because this is the last chapter and it's April 30, I get to do a little plug! As I've mentioned before, this is a sequel to Volunteers, a fic written for **hdsbeltane**. **hdsbeltane** was a livejournal gift exchange created last year by **twistedm**, for fics featuring H/D/S in different combinations and permutations, with postings going up during the month of Beltane (May), and often featuring a Beltane theme.

Guess what starts tomorrow? The second round!

So: Go! Read! It's a brand new set of fics at **hdsbeltane**. You know you want to :) :)

hds dash beltane dot livejournal dot com

**oooOOOooo**

Date: March 27  
**From:** malfoyd.globalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpotter.gringotts.wzr  
Got held up. Start dinner without me.

**_Date:_**_ March 31  
**From:** hjpotter.gringotts.wzr  
**To:** malfoyd.globalcafe.ie  
At St. Mungo's, nothing to worry about. Troll had a nervous breakdown and we're being treated for Trollbogey burns. Don't expect me home tonight._

**Date:** April 7  
**From:** malfoyd.globalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpotter.gringotts.wzr  
Rehearsal going into overtime tonight. Am about to kill the director. Could you pick up Ben?  
Also, re. the Muggle Liaison e-mails, I'll set up my account so everything I get as Liaison gets automatically cc'd to you.

**_Date:_**_ April 20  
**From:** hjpotter.gringotts.wzr  
**To:** malfoyd.globalcafe.ie  
I'll pick up Ben and I'm hoping you can explain what the hell cc'd means. BTW, want me there for your parole session?_

**Date:** April 21  
**From:** malfoyd.globalcafe.ie  
**To:** hjpotter.gringotts.wzr  
No thanks. Having a lot of Firewhisky ready on hand for after might be a good plan though. And look at you, using internet acronyms. Very sexy.

**_Date:_**_ April 21  
**From:** hjpotter.gringotts.wzr  
**To:** malfoyd.globalcafe.ie  
:)_

**oooOOOooo  
April 30**

"Draco? When do we go on?" asked Alec, and Draco suppressed the urge to snap at him. It was only the fifth time he'd asked.

"Just a few more songs," he said patiently. Merlin, but he wished he hadn't agreed to attend this. Dinner entertainment at a London art pub; not his first choice of performing venue. And he very much wished that his own performances hadn't been spliced here and there in the program. It would've been very nice to just sing and leave.

On the other hand, he had to admit this was a pretty good crowd, and it was good publicity for Kara, and for himself as well. The theme of the concert was the British Isles, so there were a lot of tourists, many groups and singers. Ironic, that just as he was leaving Ireland, he should be doing a concert where about a third of the songs celebrated it.

He was leaving Ireland. It kept hitting him as a surprise for some reason, and he was only now realizing he was going to miss it a great deal. He'd lived there for almost nine years, and even though he knew he'd never really belonged, being both English and a wizard, he'd felt at home there. As much as he could feel at home anywhere, being a foreigner among Muggles whether any of them knew it or not, and an exile in his own world.

He belonged with Ben, though. And with Harry and Alec. There was a lot to be said for that.

"Can you come sit with us after our song is done?" Alec asked.

Draco nodded. "Yes, of course. My choir won't sing again for a while after that. Ben, stop picking," he said, pulling Ben's fingers away from his nose.

"It still burns," Ben sulked.

"So next time, don't put a vinegared chip up your nose," Draco said, amused. "You're old enough to know better."

Onstage an interminable Irish singalong had some of the drunker patrons singing along and calling out responses, and it really was rather remarkable that, for a country so famous for poetry and music, what Ireland seemed to churn out most prodigiously were simplistic, forgettable drinking songs. And Harry and his family were singing along with the chorus. Draco suppressed an eye-roll. Not that it didn't have its own charm, but it was so typical that the Weasleys would latch onto it with gusto. The finer things in life were wasted on them.

He shook himself mentally. No, that wasn't the right attitude. His life, god help him, included Weasleys now, and he'd best get used to them. It wasn't that hard. Ron and Hermione - they'd even progressed to first names, and not just because calling Ron "Weasley" would be confusing - were at his place about once a week, so far with no casualties, and Harry's parents-in-law were fairly inoffensive. The other Weasleys, he could do without. Bill and George were friendly enough, but he still couldn't look at Bill's scars without a humbling sense of shame. And there were far too many unpleasant memories attached to George Weasley, the very least of which was the beating Draco had endured from him in his fifth year. The glasses and the stammer always made Draco think of his own father's crimes, and they weren't pleasant thoughts.

Fred and Percy were just uncomfortable to be around. Despite what Fred had said to him at the hospital, there was no love lost between them, and likely never would be.

Funny that the Weasleys he would have the least problems with were the one he'd once written a mocking song about and the one he'd called Mudblood.

Finally, the drunken singalong was done, and Draco followed his choir and the children's choir onto the stage, wishing he were leading them instead of simply singing. The performance was enjoyable anyway, though the song itself was a little sentimental for his taste, all about exile and loss. Rather depressing, really. He cleared his mind and concentrated on the music, putting the meaning of the lyrics out of his mind.

Then they were off the stage so that Kara could sing her Johnny Be Fair and Irish Ballad solos, and he brought the kids back to the table where Harry and his family were sitting. He glanced around the place; about half the people in the audience seemed to be musicians and singers.

"She's quite talented, isn't she?" said Hermione, leaning over to speak to him. "My mum saw an advert for her next show."

"Yeah, she's doing well."

Kara certainly loved it here; she was getting gigs almost every day, she was where the action was, and her star was rising. Paradoxically, she was a better mother now that she wasn't around as much any more, because she missed Ben, and made the most of her time with him, instead of dragging him along to most of her functions. Not that she'd ever been a bad mother, per se. Just a somewhat distracted one.

"She's taking Ben tomorrow for Beltane, is she?"

"Yeah, thank god. We really needed her last year."

"We should've thought this concert thing through better" said Harry. "It's over far too late. The boys'll be exhausted for tomorrow."

"I've got child-safe Pepper-Up."

"You're going to get there in the morning, right?" said Hermione. "Set up the last of the wards?"

He nodded. "Have to leave early, too; it's a three-Floo trip out there."

She grimaced. "How annoying."

"I'll be very glad when the term's over and I don't have to do it every day. It's not terribly time-consuming, but it is rather draining."

Harry nodded. "Well at least this year we know a lot of the issues that are likely to come up. I'm sure it'll be easier than last year."

"Oh, did you get the NewFace amulets?" Draco asked.

"Right here," said Harry, patting his shirt pocket. "Alec wanted one to make him look like Ben, so they'll both be dark. They'll look like brothers," he said, smiling. They hadn't thought it wise to bring the boys to Uisneach Hill this year, considering all the publicity, but Ben had been distraught at the thought of missing their last Beltane in Ireland, and Alec had been adamant that if Ben was going, he wanted to go too. "The one they got for you is dark too. So, with Kara there, you'll all look like a family, and I'll just be some bloke who hangs around with you."

"I'm still a little surprised that your parole officer said you could use a disguise," Ron said.

"I think having Gr- Hermione argue on my behalf helped a great deal." She'd pointed out that they didn't have time to find another Muggle Liaison, and, as Draco was volunteering his time in the service of the wizarding and Muggle community, he should be allowed to keep himself safe. It hadn't hurt that Harry had briefly dropped in on the meeting either.

"Ben, sit," said Ron, as the audience laughed and clapped for the end of Kara's song. "Your mum'll be along soon."

"You know, if they'd said no, you still could've gone," Harry chuckled, leaning closer and speaking low into Draco's ear, and an unexpected shiver ran down Draco's back. "Been the Green Man again?"

"No thank you," Draco said, the shiver unceremoniously morphing into a shudder. "Sex with a woman once was enough."

"Really?" Harry's eyebrows went up. "Only one?"

Draco nodded, checking the program. Three more songs.

"What about men?"

Draco thought a moment. "Erm. Seven. Theo Nott, and five Muggles. And you."

"Oh." Harry blinked. "I didn't realize that."

"What?"

"You seemed very... experienced," Harry said, and somehow the shivery feeling was back. Draco's smirking response died mid-chuckle as he felt Harry's hand on his leg. Harry was smiling brightly at him and above the table it looked totally innocent. Beneath it, fingers were creeping up his thigh.

Draco glanced at the stage. Only two more songs till he went on. Bugger...

His mind was speeding ahead, performing quick calculations involving their distance from the washrooms, average density of the crowd, audial background, proximity of children, density of Weasleys - both in terms of numbers and perceptiveness - and coming up distressingly short in terms of being able to take this anywhere satisfactory.

"Not a good idea..." he murmured, pulse racing.

"What's not a good idea?" Ron said, startling them both.

"Erm, getting a beer," Harry said hastily. "Interferes with music... things." Draco snickered and earned himself a sharp elbow.

"So Kara's happy in London, then?" asked Hermione.

Draco nodded, grateful for the topic change and nervously hoping his body would seize this excellent opportunity to settle a bit before he went back onstage. "Only thing that's upsetting her a bit is that Ben's already losing his accent. Don't think Kara realized that was going to happen."

"You never know," Harry said. "He may move back there at some point in his life, and get it back. Or pick it up. You did."

"I did?"

"Didn't you ever notice? You rolled your r's a bit more when I first met you."

Draco frowned. "Do I still?"

"I don't notice it. Not sure if it's that I got used to it or you don't do it any more."

"No, it's fading," said Fred. "Not that I've heard you talk much, but it was noticeable at first."

Draco nodded, as always a bit uneasy when one of the other Weasleys spoke to him. He checked his watch.

"Did you pick out your music tonight?" asked George.

"Merlin, no. I don't much mind Fields of Athenry or Will Ye No Come Back, but the director chose an absolutely execrable version of Loch Lomond." He wrinkled his nose, then noticed their director signaling for their choir to gather again. "Speaking of which, I'll be back later." He ruffled Alec and Ben's hair and headed for the stage, thanking Merlin he'd been able to get his body's reaction to Harry under control... at least visibly.

Don't look at Harry, he reminded himself. It was normally a bit of a charge, knowing Harry was in the audience, occasionally catching his eye... but he wouldn't put it past Harry to raise an eyebrow suggestively, or smile at him the way he _knew_ would make Draco get so very - yeah, no, best not look. Think about music instead.

It was going to be rather boring for a while, he thought as they began Will Ye No, not having a choir of his own to lead. Though he had been asked to temporarily lead a wizarding choir whose director was ill. Hadn't decided on that offer yet; it was tempting, but he wasn't sure all the members - or the audiences - would want him there. It did help that the choir was mostly half-bloods, and about half their concerts were for Muggles.

The irony was not lost on him.

Alec adored this song, with its wistful longing for a return of what had been. Another song of a failed battle, though this one was Scottish, not Irish. Maybe that was why he'd felt at home in Ireland; it was a land that had lost, and lost rather spectacularly, but not been bowed down.

Then they were done, and he could look at Harry again, and there was only one more song to go before it was time to take their kids home. He headed for the washroom as another soloist began a vaguely humorous ditty making fun of traditional Irish ballads.

Oh, wonderful, he thought as he got to the loo and found Fred Weasley already waiting in line there. There was a short, awkward silence.

"It's so strange, you doing Muggle things," said Fred abruptly.

"I suppose so. I'm used to it."

"Everything ready for tomorrow?"

"Almost."

"Worried about publicity?"

Draco shook his head. "We've got the NewFace amulets. Thanks, by the way. Besides, I did the job last year with no serious problems."

"Different this year. You've been in the news."

"I know." He shrugged. "Just have to hope the people who are still holding a grudge don't like to travel."

Fred frowned. "You can't blame people for holding a grudge. You may think it was no big deal-"

"I've never thought that," Draco said evenly. "I have never defended any of what I did. Or anything my family did."

"You said you were sorry and then you did an act for the parole board," Fred said, barely suppressing a sneer. "Doesn't wipe away the consequences of what you did, not that you'd care-"

"Says the man responsible for giving Byron Montague nightmares for years."

Fred blinked. "Who?"

"You and your brother shoved him into a disappearing cabinet."

Fred's face cleared. "Inquisitorial Squad Montague? Gobshite had it coming-"

"He was stuck in there for days. And he wasn't ever the same afterwards. Jumped at shadows for a long time, terrified of being locked in again. Did you care about the consequences when you did that? Did you ever pay for it?"

"You're comparing _that_ to what you-"

Draco shook his head, impatient with himself for bringing it up. "No. Sorry. Shouldn't've brought it up."

"You're damned right."

The bathroom door opened, and Fred moved towards it. Draco put out his hand. "You know," he said conversationally as Fred turned to look at him, "Your sister's portrait is on our night table. Every morning when I wake up, I see her. I sleep with her widower and I'm raising her son, and I know they both lost her because of the man I chose to follow. Harry loves me, but he'll never stop missing her. My son has a mother, but Alec doesn't, and there's nothing we can do to fill the hole that's left in his life. There were consequences to what we did, I know that. I see them every day. I don't need to be reminded."

Fred gave him a hard stare, then went into the washroom.

And damn it, it was time for his final song, and he hadn't had a chance to use the loo. He hurried onstage, and gave a start as Harry's voice spoke into his ear.

"... did you say to him?"

"I t-told him he was going to lose Alec," said another voice, and Draco blinked, realizing the cheap Remote Ear connection to Harry that the Aurors had provided him with for security had turned on, again, and he could now hear whatever was going on at Harry's table. And... bugger, he couldn't take out his wand to stop it, here in the midst of his Muggle choir...

"What?" said Harry.

"I told him that if he k-kept it up he was going to lose the only bit of G-Ginny we had left. Told him not to be a c-complete arse or Alec would s-start to hate him."

Harry sighed. "You lost Ginny too. And you lost a lot more. Why can you move on and he can't?"

"I was a b-bit pissed at you at first," George admitted. "It p-passed." There was a pause. "So, how's it g-going? Living together?"

Draco's heart skipped a beat.

Harry cleared his throat, and there was a low chuckle from somebody near Harry.

"Oh really? That good?" said Ron.

Good thing the stage lights were fairly low-key, because his cheeks felt like they were burning and his stomach felt oddly light. He determinedly kept his eyes on the director and not Harry.

"I... I still think, sometimes, that... that it shouldn't feel this good." Harry cleared his throat again. "I... I wonder what Ginny would've said."

"She's gone, mate," Ron said. "And I'm not just saying rubbish like 'She would've wanted you to be happy.' She's gone, and you can't live your life double-guessing yourself and only doing things she would've approved of."

"She didn't like him much."

"None of us did," said Ron reasonably. "We were kids. We're not any more. What she would've wanted or not wanted for you isn't really relevant, I don't think." There was a pause. "And don't worry about Fred. Or Percy or Anne. They might never really come around. But..."

"But it's n-not your problem, mate."

"And as for Ginny," said Ron, "remember you two joked you'd start your kids' names with A, and see how far down the alphabet you'd go?"

"Yeah."

"Maybe she'd l-like it that you got to B at least, yeah?"

Harry chuckled. "Maybe."

All right, now Draco felt like laughing and crying, which was just... ridiculous. And generations of Malfoys were probably spinning in their graves.

There was a long pause. "Still miss her, don't you?" asked Demelza.

There was a small indistinct sound from Harry.

"It's all right if you don't think about her as much," she said. "That's supposed to happen, eventually."

"Not sure I really want it to."

"You c-can't have three of you in that bed," George pointed out.

Draco breathed a sigh of relief as they began their final song, the one that started out with such a promisingly beautiful solo and such wonderful interweaving of music, and degenerated into such inane and pointless vocal fiddling around. At least it drowned out the sound from the Remote Ear. He drove the conversation out of his mind and just concentrated on the way his part and Kara's wove together.

And soon enough, the stupid thing was over, and they could finally leave. He made his way back to Harry's table, started to pick Alec up out of Molly's lap, and Alec blinked sleepily.

"No, I want to listen to the last song," he said, and Draco and Harry glanced at Ben, sleeping soundly in Arthur's lap, and shrugged.

"And now we've roamed the Isles enough, let's end it with a toast to right here," said the emcee, and a soloist began singing Streets of London, with the crowd joining in with the chorus. A sad and a fitting end to the day.

"We'll see you tomorrow," said Hermione, as he and Harry carried their sleeping children to the Floo.

**oooOOOooo**

Draco put Ben in the lower bunk as Harry floated Alec up to the top. Ben turned in his sleep, pillowing his head on his arms, forehead scrunching up a bit. Draco ran a hand over his dreadlocks as Harry whispered "Goodnight, boys," gave them both a kiss, and left the room.

Draco sat on his son's bed for a few moments, watching him peacefully sleeping. It really was different, this living together business. There was a lot more chaos to his life now, though part of that was due to the daily three-Floo commuting he had to do. Alec was easy to live with - as easy as any five-year-old could be - and he and Ben were getting along just fine. There were more fights than before, but they passed quickly and without lasting harm. He supposed it was as close to a sibling relationship as any. Even the extended family wasn't so bad, now that they were finally getting used to Ben and Draco.

Odd, that Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy's grandson now saw Arthur and Molly Weasley as his grandparents.

He stood and brushed Alec's hair back from his forehead as Alec turned over and hummed a bit of a tune, and he headed for his own room, closing their door behind him. He glanced at their picture shelf in the hallway, where magical photographs of Kara and Ginny Weasley smiled and waved, and felt sorry for Ginny. It was anybody's guess whether she would've understood her singularly un-Weasley child, but somehow he knew she would've loved him and been proud of him.

"Are you coming to bed?" Harry asked from their bedroom. Draco smiled and joined Harry in their room, taking his lips in a slow kiss, chuckling as Harry returned it and deepened it.

"Really? Harry, it's past midnight."

"I know, but both of us don't need to be at the Hill early tomorrow. You sleep in and I'll go there early, set up the wards."

"All right." He closed and leaned back against their door, letting Harry run soft lips down his neck. He reached back and untied Harry's hair, enjoying the silky feel of it running through his fingers, black and silver strands tumbling in a wave down Harry's back. He drew in his breath as Harry knelt down, undoing Draco's Muggle trousers, pulling aside the black shirt he'd worn for the concert. There was something incredibly sensual about a lover's hands undressing you. Especially when they were so slow and gentle, so familiar. He groaned as Harry took him into his mouth.

He dropped his head back against the wall, running his fingers through Harry's hair, closing his eyes as Harry's lips touched him softly and Harry's tongue started to do wicked things to him. His heartbeat sped up, and he moaned quietly, sparks racing through him as Harry chuckled at the sound and the vibrations ran through him.

"Like it?" Harry said, breaking off for a moment, then took him back into his mouth in a way that made it extremely difficult to answer. He pulled Harry up in response, bringing their mouths together again, and reached down to undo Harry's trousers, slipping a hand inside.

Harry moaned. "Erm. How do you want to..."

"Up to you," Draco answered, a bit breathless.

"Well, since you're going to be sleeping in a bit tomorrow, why don't you do all the work tonight?"

Draco chuckled as they moved to the bed, and he continued to remove Harry's trousers, grinning when Harry gasped and closed his eyes. Harry bit his lip as Draco stroked him, then pulled off his own glasses and Draco's, setting them on the bedside table. They slowly removed each other's clothing, finally ending up skin on skin, tongues embracing, hands roaming over familiar planes.

He gently pushed Harry onto his back, and Harry waved a small bottle over towards them. Draco took his time, rubbing lube on and gently relaxing Harry to take him in. He recalled their first time together, how tense Harry had been, how Draco could almost feel his pain despite the obvious pleasure Harry had also felt. So different from now. Their dance now was familiar, warm, comfortable, and more than Draco could've imagined he'd ever have, a year ago.

"Come on," Harry whispered, and threw his head back with a groan as Draco entered him and settled over him, taking one hand in his and beginning to thrust, slowly, teasing him.

"I'm not in any hurry... I'm sleeping in tomorrow, remember?" he whispered back, and Harry bit his lip.

"Bloody hell... you've... got the worst sense of comic timing..." he whispered, his eyes closed, head beginning to move back and forth on the pillow, hips coming up to meet Draco's thrusts. "Draco, come on. Please. I need to come. _Now_."

Draco laughed and kissed him, thrusting faster, and soon Harry was bucking against him, crying out his name-

"Oh shit!" Harry's eyes suddenly popped open and he made a frantic wave towards the door. "Draco, silencing spell, the boys-"

Draco closed his eyes tightly and groaned, because fuck, if _that_ wasn't dismal timing, nothing was. "Right." He rolled them over so that Harry was close enough to the night table to aim a wand and say the incantation, because having a small child knock on the door asking, "Daddy, are you having a nightmare?" right in the middle of an otherwise spectacular orgasm was an experience that, really, nobody needed to undergo more than once.

He settled over Harry again, breathing hard, bringing them back to where they'd been when Harry had so rudely interrupted them, panting as they reached for the summit together. Catching his breath at the sight beneath him, Harry's muscles working as his strong body writhed under Draco, he captured Harry's lips and gasped as Harry cried out, a warm wetness covering their stomach and they both came in the middle of a kiss, the brightness of their climax shining on and on, both gasping into each others' mouths and holding each other tightly.

And then it was over. He sighed into the warmth of Harry's neck, his eyes closing as Harry's lips ghosted over his face, his eyes, tenderness in every caress. Harry's fingertips absently tracing the Dark Mark as he pressed a line of kisses onto Draco's neck.

_I still think, sometimes, that... that it shouldn't feel this good._

Draco closed his eyes, breathing in the scent of sex and sweat, and belonging and love.

"Mm, don't forget to set the alarm," Harry said, yawning.

"I won't."

"Oh, the amulets are near the sink for tomorrow." Harry smiled sleepily at him, and almost immediately fell asleep. Draco lay listening to him breathe for a while, then frowned. There was some kind of noise from the living room... a quiet clicking...

He carefully got up, absently soothing Harry as he made a soft questioning sound.

What the... oh. He chuckled at the long scarf, in Slytherin green and grey, that Molly had begun knitting for Ben, and allowed him to take home when he wheedled her into it. She'd evidently charmed the needles to put on more rolls of yarn when they ran out, because the scarf was now probably long enough to keep most of Slytherin House cosy, with a few Ravenclaws thrown in as well.

She should've used yellow and black yarn instead. That was one thing that he and Harry and the entire clan agreed on when it came to their kids: destined to be Hufflepuffs, the pair of them. _Just and loyal, patient Hufflepuffs are true, and unafraid of toil_. Although perhaps Alec's musical genius could put him into Ravenclaw, and Ben's bravery Sort him into Gryffindor. Slytherin wasn't an option, for either of them.

Odd that the thought didn't disturb him at all.

He stopped the needles and quieted down a small toy broom that had begun humming in the toy box. Checked the wards around the study; they'd had to send their desktop in for repairs once already, as spells interfered with electronics. It had taken the techs a while to fix it, and Draco was half convinced it had just fixed itself once it was away from magic long enough.

He should really see about finding a wizarding electronics store. Arthur or George might know of one. Or perhaps Hermione.

He checked their supply of Floo powder. Last day of term at Trinity College was May ninth, and he was eagerly anticipating the end of his daily commute. Saying goodbye to the people he'd known there would be a bit harder; he'd grown closer to his Muggle students and choir members, and the choir children, than he'd thought possible, and was only now realizing he'd genuinely miss many of them.

But.

Harry and Kara and Ben and Alec were here now. As well as a new job at the music college, courtesy of a parole officer who was a hell of a lot more professional and sympathetic than the one he'd left behind in Dublin. Maybe because of the small amount of positive publicity he'd received in the press, or because of Harry's support. Or maybe she just felt her job was supposed to be to help parolees live law-abiding lives, rather than make them miserable. She was a welcome change, anyway. She'd said that as long as he only used magic to 'nudge' the local college to give him a job he was actually qualified to do, she would allow it.

He headed back down the hall and stopped at their picture shelf again, gazing at a photo Kara had taken of himself and Ben at Beltane last year.

The embers of the Beltane bonfires had still been glowing when he and Harry had left Uisneach Hill almost exactly a year ago, full of hope and excitement and fear. He'd driven two hours back to Dublin, put Ben to bed, and not been able to get the memory of the kisses he and Harry had shared out of his head. Tomorrow there would be singing and dancing, a May Queen and a Horned King, White Women and Red Men, tourists and pagans and protestors, and at the end, the embers of another pair of bonfires. And who knew what the next year would bring.

Their bedroom door was open and he gazed in at Harry, sleeping peacefully. Then he picked up Ben's little goddess figure, sitting next to their pictures on the shelf.

_For what it's worth, if you're somewhere out there... thanks. Somehow you knew what I needed, and what Ben and Harry and Alec needed too. Thank you for what you've given us - all of us. We'll honour your gifts._

And he gently placed her back on the shelf, then headed back to bed, and to Harry.

**ooo000ooo**

**Author's Note 1:** OK, remember when I said I really don't remember ideas people give me (re. missing scenes) unless they're in the right place? This is not the right place. So far I've had four people give me really cool ideas for missing scenes, and all I can remember is this: they were really cool.

I wish I was kidding.

I want to hear your prompts. But I have the attention span of a toddler with ADHD on a sugar high, and if they don't go on the "please give me prompts" entry, they shall be lost in the ether forever. Not trying to be a bitch here; just being realistic.

I'm posting an entry where people can give me prompts. Please put your prompts there. Pretty please?

**Author's Note 2:** The songs referred to are Tim Finnegan's Wake, Fields of Athenry (mentioned in chapter 8), Johnny Be Fair, Tom Lehrer's The Irish Ballad, Will Ye No Come Back Again, Dennis Leary's Traditional Irish Song, Loch Lomond, and Streets of London. The lyrics can be found at the Lyrics Page:

annafugazzi dot livejournal dot com slash 55489 dot html

**Author's Note 3:** Last one, I swear!

Thanks so much, guys, for sticking with this story. Your comments and reviews have made me smile so hard, with every single chapter.


	13. DVD Extras Requests

**"Is this really the moment?" AKA "You missed a spot."**

I know, I know, I'm hideously behind answering reviews & comments, and... well a whole bunch of other stuff, and I will get to all of it, hopefully soon. But I'm also studying for the bar exam, so replies & such may be delayed for a bit :(

In any case, for those who have asked when/where I'm going to post the entry where people can tell me what they'd like to have seen in Ember to Ember: Here! And now!

So here it is. If you post your missing scene comments here, I will be able to keep track of them. I won't promise to write every one, because (a) if there's more than three or four I'm not sure I'll be able to find the time and (b) I do still owe two Timestamp Meme requests, so I don't want to make any promises I can't keep. But I do promise to think about each and every single suggestion, and hopefully do as many as I can before the plotbunnies hop away from me :) I may not actually post them till after my exams are done (June 4th) since the exam has first priority, but if you don't mind waiting a bit, your niggling "What exactly did Harry say to Draco when they reconciled?" questions may be answered in time :)

**Edited to Add:**

Here's the list of requests from lj, , and skyhawke:

1. **scrtkpr, frantic_mice, tree00faery, jessiflash: **Off the top of my head, I'd like to see...hmmm...that "first time" we didn't actually get to see--here, let me look it up:  
_The farthest they'd gone was some heavy petting and a couple of very quick hand jobs._  
Yes, I'd like to see that. ;) (Draco POV, maybe?)

2. **scrtkpr, frantic_mice, tree00faery, jessiflash: **Also, definitely, Draco's interview under Veritaserum, DYING to see that.  
(Done: DVD August 5, 2007)

3. **scrtkpr, frantic_mice, tree00faery, jessiflash, nimue_8, Love2Love, My Secret Pleasure: **And the getting back together?  
(Done: DVD February 8, 2008)

4. **scrtkpr, frantic_mice, tree00faery, jessiflash: **And ooooh! Oooooh! How about the first time Draco realizes he's in love with Harry? Draco POV, for obvious reasons. :D  
(Done: DVD August 5, 2007) ;)

5. **coffeejunkii: **i'd love to see the scene in which harry and draco make the decision to move in together :)

6. **nimue_8: **Also, the interaction between Draco and Alec (and Harry and Ben as well!) as the kids are on the mend. How Draco being there and encouraging the kid helps Harry.

7. **heldin-delta: **i really would like to read the whole fred/draco-window scene in the hospital from fred's point of view.

8. **Liveforthemoments, jennifer snape: **I'd love to read that scene where they christen the bed at the end of March... If you have time :D

9. **Love2Love: **Similarily, the reaction of the Weasley's when they announce they're back together, and when they decide to move in together...

10. **Bongo Monkeys: **I would be interested in seeing maybe a one shot, about 6-10 years later, saying what houses the boys were in, how Harry and Draco's relationship has done over the years, and so on.

11. **Lisa3353: **I would love to read the scene between Fred and Anne (you have me on a Fred kick now) when he confronts her about sending Draco's picture to the paper


	14. Aug 5: Veritaserum

OK, here is DVD Extra for **scrtkpr**, **franticmice**, **tree00faery**, and **jessiflash**. Because **scrtkpr** asked for "Draco's interview under Veritaserum, DYING to see that." And the rest said ditto :)

This bit takes place the day Draco was arrested, when the four of them went to Brigid's Cross, the Dublin equivalent of Diagon Alley.

Hope you like it!

**ooo000ooo**

**August 5, 2007**

"State your name for the record."

"Draco Scorpius Malfoy"

"Date of birth?"

"June 5, 1980."

"Do you know why you were arrested?"

"Yes."

"Tell us for the record."

"I performed a restricted spell in violation of my parole conditions."

"Which spell?"

"Obliviate."

The Auror questioning Draco glanced at the parchment before him and nodded, apparently satisfied that his Quick-Quotes Quill was recording accurately. He nodded at the woman next to him. She leaned forward, her face poking out of the dimness of the Aurors' side of the table, drew a sheet of parchment closer to the overly bright candles near Draco, and skimmed it briefly. Draco kept his breathing even, taking the opportunity to steady himself, reminding himself not to let himself get overwhelmed by the feeling of being utterly exposed, cuffed to a chair and blinking in bright light as his opponents watched him from the dim darkness.

Hard not to get overwhelmed, though. He felt naked, despite - or maybe because of - the detainee uniform he now wore. Unable to move, to see clearly, to choose what to say or not say. They could ask him anything, and he could do nothing but answer.

It was best to be numb, Draco reminded himself. Don't feel sorrow over what had just happened, don't feel anger or resentment at the way you're being treated.

And above all, don't feel fear.

You're not going to Azkaban. Even if you do, it may not be for long. You Obliviated two people who were being hostile; you didn't start it, you didn't hurt them, you've done nothing wrong other than the Obliviate, and you have Harry on your side.

"Why did you perform the spell?" asked the second Auror.

"Because the people I performed it on were going to tell other wizards about my son."

"And why did you no' want them to do that?"

"Because I didn't want him to get hurt by being associated with me. And I didn't want him to find out about my past."

"What part o' your past?"

"My actions during the war. My family, my time in Azkaban."

"Why doesn't he know any of that?"

"Because I haven't told him about it."

"Why not?"

"He's only five years old. He's too young to understand."

"And keepin' yer secrets from him was worth risking going to jail again?" asked Auror One.

"No. But that wasn't the main reason I did it. I mostly did it to protect him."

There was a slight rustle among the five Aurors sitting across the table from Draco, and Draco felt a small spark of unexpected relief. It was unnerving sometimes, the things that emerged under Veritaserum; things you hadn't even realized were true before they came tumbling out. But sometimes you could be pleasantly surprised. And he had to admit that, much like the Aurors across the table from him, he'd suspected his own motivations for Obliviating the couple at Brigid's Cross a few hours ago had been centered more on concern for himself than for Ben.

"What d'you mean, protect him?" asked Auror Two.

"I don't want anybody to know I'm his father. I don't want people to judge him because of his association with me."

The second Auror opened her mouth but the first Auror touched her arm and shook his head, showing her something written on one of the parchments before him, and she sat back.

So, Auror One appeared to be higher in rank than Auror Two. The other three, he wasn't sure about, but so far nobody here seemed to outrank Auror One. He glanced at the other three as they stared at him while Aurors One and Two had a quick, low-voiced conference.

"Why was Harry Potter there?" asked Auror One, turning back to him.

"We're friends. Our children are friends."

"Yes, we noticed," said Auror Two dryly. "Your e-mails have become more frequent."

"When did ye become friends?" asked Auror One.

"When we volunteered to liaison for Beltane at Uisneach Hill."

"Ye didna waste time sucking up to him," said one of the previously silent three other Aurors, a slightly overweight woman. She gave Draco a cynical half-smile. "We've all been waiting for you to start flaunting it."

"How would you characterize the relationship between you and Mr. Potter?" asked Auror One, stifling a yawn.

"We're a couple."

There was a sudden, ringing silence.

"I'm sorry, what?" Auror One finally asked.

"We're romantically involved."

A rustle went through the group.

"What... the... hell?" said the overweight Auror.

"You're... as in, you're sleepin' with him?" asked Auror One, his eyes boring into Draco's.

"Yes."

"With Harry Potter," he said flatly.

"Yes," Draco said, and had to suppress the urge to laugh at the horrified looks on all of their faces. Despite the deadly seriousness of the situation, it was rather gratifying to be able to throw them all off so completely.

"Bloody hell," muttered an Auror with a slightly receding hairline.

"Bloody hell!" echoed the overweight Auror.

"Why didn't we know this?" Auror Two asked, leaning forward and scowling. "We've been monitorin' you-"

"Because I didn't want anybody to know."

"You knew you'd have to tell us at yer next questioning," she pointed out.

"Yes."

"Did Potter know that?"

"No."

"How lovely," sneered the Auror with the receding hairline. "Were you going to surprise him?"

"I was trying to figure out how to tell him."

"Figured that'd be the death-knell of yer little affair, didn't ye? He'd break up with you in a heartbeat."

"No."

"What?" asked Auror Two.

"No, he wouldn't."

"You don't think he'd be wee bit shy about being publicly associated with the likes o' you?"

"No, not really," said Draco, once again feeling a small spark of amusement at their baffled expressions.

"He's no' exactly been shouting it from the rooftops, has he?" Auror Two pointed out.

"I asked him not to."

There was another small rustle of disbelief among the Aurors.

"You asked him not-"

"Bloody hell, I dinna believe this-"

"All right, stop there," said Auror One abruptly, standing up. "We're flyin' blind here. We'll get the boss, let him know what's going on, reconvene once we've got our act together. And get more Veritaserum." He headed out the door, motioning the others to follow him. "Flint, you stay behind," he said to the only Auror who hadn't spoken up yet.

"It's got to be some sort of bloody joke-" said one of the others as they started to file out.

Flint stared at Draco, his expression unreadable in the dimness of his side of the table.

Draco closed his eyes and breathed deeply, not sure whether to be grateful for the respite from their questions, or anxious that now he'd have no distraction from the dark thoughts that immediately surfaced as the door closed.

What would happen to Ben? Where was Ben now? With Kara? With Harry? It felt like about three hours since he'd been arrested. Who was taking care of Ben? What had they told him about where Draco had gone?

And who was going to take care of him until Draco came back? Would Kara take to fobbing him off on her girlfriends again? The women all seemed to see Ben as a mascot, and Kara was a good mother - when she had the time - but Ben needed Draco. He _needed_ that connection to his dad, needed that connection to magic. What would happen to him without it?

How long was he going to be away from Draco?

He fought back the thought being away from Ben for a month. Two months. Six. A year. Missing irreplaceable time from his son's life. Coming out to find that Ben didn't need Draco any more, that he'd been replaced, that Draco didn't know what books Ben liked or what his teachers thought of him or what food he'd become fond of or what Ben's favourite show on the telly was-

How long would he go, missing Ben? Missing Harry, missing Alec, and even Kara? Who would wake Harry up at night when he had nightmares? Who would make music with Alec? Who would hold Draco when he woke up from a nightmare of Azkaban, only to find the nightmare had become real again?

And what if he never got out again? What if-

No. He wasn't going back to Azkaban. He had to believe that. He wasn't, he wasn't. And even if he was, he'd be out soon.

He kept his eyes closed, breathing steadily, concentrating on Ben and Harry and Alec and Kara. Holding his fears at bay with his memories, precious and warm, and all his own. Memories that reminded him that he was still a human being. That he wasn't just a thing to be questioned, a body to be locked away, but a person, worthy of caring and affection, worthy of respect and loyalty - all of which he had earned on his own, with no name or family or connections to bestow them upon him automatically.

Abruptly, Flint broke the silence.

"How long have you been with Potter?"

"Since May," answered Draco, startled.

"Three months. And you kept it quiet," he said conversationally. "You lying little shit."

Draco kept his face impassive. "I wasn't lying about anything. I just wasn't volunteering information."

"Letter of the law, Malfoy. You know you need to keep us informed about any major changes in your life."

"I knew it would come out eventually, at my next interrogation."

"Don't try to-"

"I wasn't doing anything wrong. I'm allowed to date."

"You're dating Harry Potter. The darling of the wizarding world." He shook his head. "Fuck, we all thought it was just a ploy, getting your kids to be friends. Teaching your kid how to get in with the right sort of people."

"He's not like that," said Draco, stung.

Flint frowned in puzzlement. "Potter? Not the right sort?"

"No, my son. He's not like that. He wouldn't know how to try to - not to mention he's barely five years old. What did you think I was going to teach him?"

"I'll ask the questions here-"

"Are you even supposed to be questioning me?"

Flint smiled humourlessly at him. "Who's going to know I did?"

"Everyone, if I tell them."

"Will you?"

Draco blew out his breath. "No." _God_, no. The last thing he needed to do was piss off any Aurors, or get them arguing amongst themselves.

"Good." Flint smiled again. "So. What's it like, going out with the Saviour of the Wizarding World?"

"Good."

"Yeah? Who's the girl?"

Draco blinked. "What?"

"Who gets fucked?" asked Flint, and smirked as Draco drew in his breath in shock.

"He does," Draco said, feeling his cheeks heat up.

Flint's eyebrows went up. "Harry Potter gets it up the arse from you?"

"Yes," Draco said, wishing he could wipe the smirk off Flint's face.

"He ever blow you?"

"Yes."

"Is he good at it?"

"Yes."

"You ever blow him?"

"Yes."

"You enjoy that?"

"Yes." Draco looked away, humiliation flooding him as Flint's smirk grew.

"What do you like about it?"

"The sounds he makes. How he moves."

"Do you let him come in your mouth?"

And there was no respite. No way out of this; all he could do was hope the others came back before too long. "Yes."

"Swallow?"

"Yes."

"Like the taste, do you?"

"Not really."

"Why do it, then?"

"I like it when he does it for me."

Flint nodded. He wasn't being deliberately malicious, Draco realized. He was just bored, and pleased to pass the time by making Draco squirm. He was probably the lowest ranked Auror of the group, irate at being left behind to babysit Draco while the others discussed strategy, and wanted to throw Draco's own powerlessness in his face. As if Draco could possibly forget, handcuffed and overdosed on Veritaserum, blinking at the bright lights that hurt his eyes, as his questioners sat in near-darkness.

"So did you teach him how?" Flint asked, and Draco looked at him questioningly. "Potter. Did you teach him how to suck you?"

"He figured it out."

"Did his wife ever blow him?"

"Yes."

"Did he tell you about her? About what they did in bed?"

"No."

"Then how d'you know she did?"

"He never said she didn't."

"And does he like it when you-"

The door suddenly opened and the other Aurors came back in, joined by two more people in Ministry insignia.

"All right," said Auror One to Flint. "Shacklebolt says we can continue the questioning, but everybody's to get a Confidentum spell after we're done."

Flint grimaced in disgust. "You're joking."

"Fraid not, John," said Auror Two. "Shacklebolt'll decide what else to do after we're done here, but there were five of us in the room when he said it and at least three others who know now. It's no' to protect Malfoy's privacy, but Potter's."

"You all right, Malfoy?" asked the overweight Auror curiously, and Draco wondered what had prompted the question. Wondered if he looked as nauseated as he felt. Whether that was just due to his standard reaction to Veritaserum, or whether it was due to Flint's questions, he didn't know, but he did know that there was no way he wanted to tell anybody else what Flint had been asking and making him say and _fuck_, his mouth was opening to answer the question anyway.

"No."

"Think he's thirsty," said Flint quickly. "You thirsty, Malfoy?"

Draco nodded in relief. "Yes."

"Get him some water," Auror One said absently, flipping through a sheaf of parchments he'd brought in with him. "O'Brian, go head," he said, nodding at Auror Two.

"When did you start dating Mr. Potter?" she asked.

"May 2."

"How did that come about?"

Draco sighed and just let the answers come, letting everything, bad and good, tumble out. As with all his previous interrogations, this was just a bloody waste of time, and so bloody humiliating. And as always, it had nothing to do with anything remotely threatening to anybody. But the Aurors had to do their jobs, protecting the public from dangerous offenders like him. And Draco supposed that in this instance, asking about Draco's relationship to Harry, and Alec, and the Weasleys, was all part of protecting the public - which, after all, included Harry and Alec and the Weasleys.

But God, how useless, going through the printouts of his e-mails to and from Harry, trying to pin down exactly where they'd gone and who in the wizarding world Draco had been in contact with… pointless, all of it. They'd already asked the relevant questions regarding today's incident: why had he performed the Obliviate, had he performed any other forbidden spells, brewed any potions, used any magical objects. And he'd answered them truthfully. The rest of this was just covering their arses in case anybody asked.

It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, he reminded himself. Maybe this could help him stay out of Azkaban. Give him the chance to give the Aurors reasons to trust him.

He answered the questions, mechanically, struggling to keep the fear out of his mind.

"After the e-mails exchanged between June tenth and twelfth, you went to see Potter by yourself, then?"

"Yes. Alec's grandparents had Alec, and Kara had Ben. We spent the weekend together."

"It looks here like you were canceling your plans. You wrote 'Sorry, playdate's off,' and then 'Too bad. Maybe next weekend.' That sounds as though you weren't meeting each other that weekend."

"Yes."

"That was deliberate, then?"

"Yes. But it wasn't untrue. We never said _we_ weren't getting together; just that the children weren't going to have a playdate."

Auror Two nodded expressionlessly and moved on.

And Azkaban kept crowding into his head between questions. Azkaban, with its greyness, its cold and hunger and boredom. Too many chances to regret everything he had ever done wrong in his life, burn over every unfairness he'd endured, too many chances to become the person he'd been when he'd finally left it - angry, cynical, bitter.

He still woke up with nightmares of Azkaban, of the inexorable death of his soul, crushed down by grey and cold and cruelty and indifference. Crushed by being treated as less than human, until it was impossible to not think of himself as less than human too. And now his nightmares just might be coming true.

Hold on to the good things, he reminded himself.

"Potter's family all know about you and him, then?"

"Yes."

"What do they think?"

He answered, imagining Ben's eyes and his smile, his small brown hand in Draco's, his trust and love. Harry's warmth and scent, Harry's arms around him. Alec's music touching his soul, his bright green eyes looking up to Draco with admiration and love.

And then he stopped thinking of them, because that just brought a wave of terror at the thought of never seeing any of them again.

Just be numb. Answer the questions. The times and dates and places they'd gone today and shops he'd visited and the things they'd bought-

"How d'you feel about Mr. Potter?"

"I'm in love with him." Oh shit.

He felt his heart stop as the room fell into stunned silence again, and a rushing, sick feeling spread through him like a flash flood.

It had just come out. He'd never thought it, never let himself think about it - it was part of a little box labeled "do not open," because they were just seeing how it went, and seeing where things led them, and seeing where they ended up, and a million euphemisms for Not Serious Yet and yet here he was and he'd said it and it had to be true, and the first time he'd said it - or even thought it - it was in a room for of hostile, suspicious strangers.

He kept his eyes on the floor, clenching his hands to stop their shaking.

There was a rustle from the Aurors. Somebody cleared his throat.

"He's found a way around the Veritaserum," said O'Brian finally.

Draco opened his eyes, meeting Auror One's gaze.

"I dinna think so," said Auror One slowly, his eyes calculating. "He never has before."

"That we know of," pointed out the overweight Auror.

"He's already answered a great many things that I'm sure he would've kept quiet about if he could have," said Auror One.

"Come on," said O'Brian uneasily. "The Malfoys have always been pretty clever at figuring out-"

"Not this one." The man pursed his lips thoughtfully. "You're in love with Potter, then?"

"Yes," Draco said, his voice hollow.

"Since when?"

Draco shook his head helplessly.

"Did you even know you were?"

"No."

"Yeah, looks like it surprised you as much as us," said Auror One, and for a split second there was the tiniest glimmer of sympathy in his voice.

"Jake, come on-" O'Brian began, and Auror One stood up.

"All right, let's go, another conference," he said. He glanced at the younger of the two Ministry aides who had joined them after the last conference. "Ellis, stay here with Flint."

Flint was staring at Draco steadily as the others filed out.

"In love with him, yeah?" he said as the door finally closed.

Numb. Just stay numb.

"Yes."

"When did you figure it out?"

"Just now."

"How's it feel?"

"Horrible."

Flint gave a short, humourless laugh. "Really? Why?"

"I didn't know. I didn't want to - it wasn't supposed to happen."

"Flint," said Ellis nervously. "I dinna think you're supposed to keep interrogating him when Garritt's no' here..."

"This isn't interrogating. This is just a little chat."

"But..."

"Look, Jake Garritt is a fine Auror, but I think he's been working too long with blokes like this piece of shit," Flint said, his voice grim. "He's started to feel sorry for 'em. So he's not going to ask any of the tough questions. You heard him. Nothing that'll embarrass Malfoy, nothing that might embarrass the great Harry Potter either." He leaned forward, staring at Draco. "I know this bastard, though." Draco frowned, blinking at him. Now that Flint mentioned it, he did look vaguely familiar, but Draco couldn't place him at all. "You wouldn't remember me. My brother's Marcus Flint. Your Captain on the Slytherin Quidditch team."

Draco's eyebrows went up.

"Yeah, I was leaving school as you were coming in, and I was in Hufflepuff, so I doubt you'd remember me, but Marcus had stories about you. Said you were an arrogant brat and a whiny little shit." He smiled grimly. "So. Tell me, why wasn't this supposed to happen?"

"Because I didn't want it to," Draco said, his heart sinking. Oh God, no. No, this was - he couldn't - this was too bloody painful and raw to deal with it with Flint. He pressed down panic, focussing all his will on his answers in a desperate ploy to keep Flint at bay until the others came back-

"And why is that?"

"A lot of reasons."

"Such as?"

"We live in different cities."

Flint frowned. "Seriously?"

"Yes."

"You're worried about commuting?" He chuckled derisively. "What else?"

"We're both single parents. It's complicated."

Flint's eyebrows went up, then he looked amused. "You can't fight Veritaserum, mate."

"I can try," Draco ground out.

"John-" Ellis began.

"See, Ellis, he's trying to keep his answers true, but vague and evasive. It's the only way you can hope to beat Veritaserum. It's a cinch to break through, though." He smirked. "What's your mother's maiden name?"

"Black."

"Who was your first friend?"

"Dobby."

"Who was your first fuck?"

"Theo Nott."

"Why didn't you want to fall in love with Harry Potter?"

"Because I shouldn't be with him in the first place," Draco said helplessly, "and I feel guilty enough about that, never mind actually falling in love with him."

Flint smiled, pleased. "Yeah? Why not?"

"Because I have to think of my son."

"See, it's all in keeping them off-balance," Flint said to Ellis, "so they can't even hope to control their answers." He turned back to Draco. "Your son? What does your son have to do with you falling for Potter?"

"Ben's... he's the one thing I've done right in my life," he said, and felt a wave of despair as his eyes filled with tears. "I can't mess that up."

Flint gave a harsh laugh. "The one thing you've done right? He's the half-blood bastard of a poofter exile, who doesn't even live with his mother. If that's not bad enough, I've heard that in the Muggle world being black is almost as bad as a Death Eater or a Muggle-born in our world. Why should it make any difference what else you do to bugger up his life?"

Ellis made a small noise of protest but continued to look away from them, lips pressed together and arms crossed.

"He's happy and he's healthy and he's safe. And he's not touched by any of this."

"'This'? You mean... the wizarding world and your special relationship to it?"

Draco nodded.

"Why would falling in love with Potter mess up-" Flint broke off. "Ah yes, if you hadn't fallen for Potter, you wouldn't have been spending so much time in the wizarding world, and you probably wouldn't have run into the fine citizens you ran into this afternoon, and you wouldn't be sitting here knowing that you're probably never going to see your son again. Right?"

Draco drew in his breath as a tear spilled down his cheek, and he looked away from Flint's mocking sneer.

Ben's eyes. His eyes as he watched cuffs go around Draco's wrists. Clinging to Harry as Draco was taken away. His small face going blank, as his memory of his very first day in the wizarding world was utterly wiped out. His excitement at seeing magical instruments, singing with Alec before a small audience of wizards, eating charmed sweets, going to broom shop with Harry - all gone. And all because Draco had been an irresponsible idiot and let himself believe in hope, and in Harry.

"So what did you expect, when you started to go out with Potter? Were you just looking for a babysitter for your son, with some casual fucking on the side?"

Draco shook his head. "I didn't know what to expect," he said hoarsely, an ache in his chest.

"Ever been in love before?"

"No."

"What bothers you more?" Flint asked, his voice softly mocking. "Being away from your son, or losing your one true love?"

"My son."

"Not exactly the romance fairy tales are made of, then? Why's that?"

"You don't have children, do you?" Draco asked, and Flint shook his head. "Your child comes first, no matter who you're in love with."

"Oh please." Flint rolled his eyes. "Harry Potter's a bad lay, then, right?"

"No."

"How d'you do him? On his hands and knees?"

"Flint!" said Ellis, going red.

"Sometimes." Ellis was looking away now, and Draco thought distantly that he should probably feel more shocked and embarrassed at his sex life being used for amusement before another witness, but at least it was better than talking about how he'd failed Ben.

Flint grinned. "Really. What about on his back?"

"Yes."

"He ever fuck you?"

"No."

"So he's the girl, then, and you're the boy. Wouldn't've have pictured that. And him used to be married and all."

"He's not the girl," Draco said impatiently. "It's just how we've worked things so far."

Flint tilted his head curiously. "You ever been buggered by anybody else?"

"No."

"Ever fucked anybody else, other than Theo Nott?"

"A few Muggles."

"Why didn't any of them do you?"

"I didn't want them to."

"Why not?"

"Didn't trust them enough."

"Why not?"

"They're Muggles," he said, squirming a bit at his own tone as Flint shot Ellis a smirking "See? Told you so" kind of look. Ellis's eyes narrowed and he stared at Draco, his sympathy very clearly waning.

This part of an interrogation was always so bloody embarrassing. He'd trained himself to feel comfortable around Muggles, and honestly wasn't a danger to any of them, but he would probably never be able to trust them as much as he trusted wizards and there wasn't much he could do about it. With his upbringing, he reminded himself, just being able consider them human had been a major accomplishment. And there was nothing for it but to just ride out the questions, try not to react to the inevitable glee of Aurors who thought they'd be able to embarrass him with his own involuntary prejudices, and hope it ended soon.

"Don't like 'em, still, do you?" Flint said.

"I like many of them," he shot back.

"Don't trust 'em, though."

"No."

"Kneazles don't change their spots," Flint gave Ellis a smirk. "Still feeling sorry for him, Ellis?" Ellis looked away. "See, Ellis here is a Muggle-born. One step up from pond scum according to your lot."

"I don't believe any of that any more," Draco said, and pressed his lips together.

Flint rolled his eyes. "Oh that's right, you're all reformed and new and improved," he sneered. "So how'd you end up with a son with one of them, then? And a woman, too. Was that on purpose, or did you just get confused?"

Draco sighed. "It happened because of a Wiccan ceremony."

"A what?"

"Muggle religious ritual. It's all in my records."

"You mean I can read about it? So I don't have to waste precious minutes asking you. That means I can ask other things, then." Flint sat back. "So, what's Potter say when he's on his back?"

Ellis flinched and touched Flint's arm. "John, that's really-"

"Shut up," Flint said, not taking his eyes off Draco. "Answer the question."

Draco closed his eyes, answering mechanically, trying to take himself away. Far away, where it didn't matter that Flint was asking, and Draco answering, all these questions. Draining his memories of their magic. Reducing the thrill and the joy and, yes, the love in them to Flint's idle curiosity, Draco's helpless recitation, and Ellis' mortified witness.

He kept his gaze averted as Flint skimmed the printout of the e-mails between him and Harry, the notes the other Aurors had made of their relationship, seeing which weekends they'd been together. As he asked Draco times, places, and Draco answered, and the questions kept coming, and Ellis squirmed in embarrassment as Flint forced Draco to retell moment by moment the first time he and Harry had kissed. The first time Draco had gone down on Harry and they'd been interrupted by Alec having a nightmare. The first time they'd had sex. The second time. The third time...

"How's he suck you?"

"What's he sound like when you suck him?"

"Which position d'you like the most?"

"What d'you use for lube?"

"Did he bleed the first time you fucked him?"

Just separate yourself from this, Draco told himself. Don't let it touch you. You're not really here.

Which had never helped much during other questioning sessions. And it wasn't helping all that much now.

"So, done anything else? Anything more... adventurous?"

"Like what?" Draco asked warily.

"S&M, rimming, fisting - you must know, you were a Death Eater. They were into all kinds of sick amusements, weren't they?"

"No."

"How about bondage? Blindfolds?"

"We've blindfolded each other."

"Ooh, kinky."

Not really. It's just a way to concentrate on other senses. But he didn't say it out loud, and Flint moved on, and Draco answered-

And he hadn't said it out loud, the part about blindfolding.

Oh thank God. The serum was starting to fade. Hopefully he could keep that fact from Flint for a little while.

"So, you like giving it to the hero of the wizarding world?"

"Yes."

"Sex with a famous man. Does that turn you on, his fame?"

"No."

"What does turn you on?"

"Magic."

"The fact that he can do magic?"

"Yes."

"What turns you on about it?"

"It's magic. I've been cut off from it for a long time. I needed it back."

"So now you've got it back. Or you did, before this last little stunt." He chuckled. "Have any fantasies about him?"

"Yes."

"About what?"

"Mostly just about things we've already done."

"How inspiring. Not terribly imaginative, are you?"

"We're not together all that often. I... miss him."

"Anything kinkier? Role-plays, things like that?"

"Not really." None that Flint needed to know about, anyway.

"Ever acted out any fantasies?"

Bugger. Now that he had the chance to lie, he really couldn't take it. He felt an almost overwhelming urge tell Flint nothing but rubbish, and then somehow have it come back and bite him in the arse, wanted to see Flint's face when he realized Draco had been lying, but he couldn't. He couldn't afford to. He couldn't make any enemies. What if some day all that stood between Draco and freedom, Draco and being able to return to Ben, was what they asked the Aurors who had been present today, and they talked to Flint?

"No."

"Let's go back to the blindfolding. Who suggested it?"

"He did."

"Really. Trusting soul, isn't he?"

"With me? Yes, he is," Draco said mildly.

"Aw, he trusts you. Think he feels the same way about you that you feel about him?"

"I... I don't know," Draco said, his voice low.

Flint smirked. "So, you want him to tell you he's in love with you too? You dream about him getting romantic, maybe getting down on one knee..."

All right, that was it. Enough was enough.

He started to open his mouth, then stopped. He blinked, put a startled expression on his face.

"Well?" said Flint impatiently.

"I... I think it's gone."

"What's gone?"

"The effect of the Veritaserum." He looked away from Flint, keeping his tone and expression as non-confrontational as possible. "It's out of my system."

"What?"

"I don't feel like I have to answer anything."

Flint squinted at him suspiciously. "What's your mother's maiden name?"

"Longbottom," Draco said flatly. "I told you, it's out of my system. I can lie again."

Flint sat back, annoyed. And Draco was struck once again by the thought that Flint wasn't evil. This wasn't even personal to him. He'd just been bored, and looking to have some fun, and now he looked a bit like Ben did when Draco took away one of his toys.

"All right, Flint and Ellis," said Auror One - Garritt, apparently - coming back into the room, skimming through a parchment. "Take Malfoy to the cells, then come rejoin us, we're going to be in the conference room..." he trailed off, scrolling down the parchment.

"What about the interrogation?" asked Flint, and Garritt glanced up at him absently.

"What? Oh, that. Yeah, we'll probably finish that later. Just get him booked and locked up for now." He started back out the door. "Don't forget to put an extra guard on him, yeah?"

Wait, stop, Draco wanted to ask. Am I going back to Azkaban? For how long? Can I contact my son? What's happened to him? Can I speak to a lawyer? Where's my wand? Did you snap it like you snapped my first wand? Can I contact Harry?

And there was no point in asking any of them. Nobody would answer; prisoners weren't entitled to answers. He stood up as Flint vanished the bindings holding him to the chair.

"Oh, Flint, strict prisoner transfer protocol," said Garritt, popping his head back into the room, and Flint waved his wand. Cuffs appeared around Draco's wrists, and shackles on his ankles.

"Let's go, then," Flint said to Ellis, nodding at him to precede Flint and Draco through the door. Not bothering to speak to or look at Draco.

Draco wasn't a person any more. He'd provided some amusement for Flint, but that was over now, and now Draco was merely a package to be delivered to the holding cells.

He'd acted in self-defence, Draco reminded himself as he was led down to the cells. He'd not caused any permanent damage, and he'd had good reasons for casting the spell he'd cast. And Harry would help. He might even be able to get others to help him - Granger and Weasley had seemed to like Ben well enough, and from what Harry had said, they had slowly come to accept Draco himself. Grudgingly, but they accepted him. Maybe they might help get him out of here soon.

And what if they didn't? What if all of this broke on the front pages of the Prophet, and Ben was targeted, and Draco's own life was exposed, and Harry himself got publicity? Harry hated publicity with a passion, and he would have to face it all without Draco there to help him, and without Draco there to counteract whatever other people said about him, or them. Without Draco there to remind Harry why they were together, despite what anybody else thought, despite what Harry's own family thought-

Oh God, the bloody Weasleys. Harry would no doubt be around them more than he had been in the last few months. He'd hear what they thought about the situation, hear what they thought of Draco, and all without Draco there to remind Harry of why they were together.

And what would happen if Draco came back to find Harry had changed his mind? That he was finally going to listen to the Weasleys, and break it off?

He took a deep breath. Well, then, he and Ben would just go back to the life they had before. It didn't matter. They'd been happy enough before Harry; they'd be all right.

And that wasn't agony, clawing away at him at the thought of that.

"Right, in you go," Flint said, shoving him into the cell. He waved his wand and Draco's shackles and cuffs and clothing disappeared, and Flint gave him one last smirk over his shoulder and left him alone in the cell.

Oh God, Harry, please, Get me out of here, Draco thought desperately. Raise a big stink, use your influence, I don't care. Just get me out of here.

And take care of Ben. Please. Whether you get me out or not, take care of Ben.

**ooo000ooo**

**Author's Note:** **scrtkpr** also wrote "And ooooh! Oooooh! How about the first time Draco realizes he's in love with Harry? Draco POV, for obvious reasons. :D"

Done!


	15. Feb 8: Love means never having to say

This is a DVD Extra for scrtkpr, nimue, My Secret Pleasure, and a few others who asked for "Boys! Getting a clue and getting back together!"

This bit takes place about a week after the accident in Chapter 10.

Thanks so much to scrtkpr and kestrelsparhawk for wonderful and rather extensive beta :) :) :)

**February 8**

_"Mr. Potter?" the Healer had said softly, and somehow Ron and George and Arthur were all instantly awake, as was Harry, standing up unsteadily, feeling himself going pale, automatically reaching for Draco's hand. Draco took it and stood up with him, and they approached the Healer together._

The moment wouldn't stop replaying itself, over and over again, Harry thought wearily as he brushed Alec's fine ginger hair back from his forehead. He watched Alec's chest rise and fall as he slept peacefully in Harry's bed, and marveled at the miracle of it. And thought, for about the hundredth time, that he should really get some sleep himself.

How long had he been living on occasional two-hour naps anyway?

He looked around his bedroom, with the myriad of empty potion bottles and spoons and children's books and stuffed toys scattered all about, and wondered if he should try to tidy up instead.

No, no need. It wasn't as though he was going to be entertaining casual visitors any time soon. He bent his head forward, trying to massage away a persistent neck-ache.

"Mr. Potter?" said a soft voice behind him, and he moved aside automatically so that the visiting Healer could take another reading from Alec.

"Has he woken up since last time I was here?" she asked Harry, and he nodded.

"Twice," he said, and had to clear his throat. Damn, how long since he'd spoken? "He smiled at me. Asked for Draco."

"That's good," she said, smiling. "How's his eyesight?"

"Still blurry. And he... he didn't seem to hear everything I said," Harry said nervously.

"Mr. Potter, it's been less than a week. You know it's unlikely his hearing will be fully recovered for a few more days at least. The spells that are knitting together his--"

"I know, I know. I just..."

"We're not worried," said the Healer reassuringly. "His hearing may be somewhat diminished, but still quite good. If he's still missing words three days from now, we'll start monitoring that more closely, but for now--"

"Can't you test to see if it's been permanently damaged?"

"Mr. Potter, there wouldn't be much point. Even if there is some hearing loss, there're all sorts of spells we can do to help him compensate, he'll easily adapt to--"

"No, he won't," said another voice.

Harry turned, a bit surprised to see Draco this early in the day. "Has Ben already been released? Thought that normally happened in the afternoon."

"They decided to give Ben one last treatment," said Draco, then turned back to the Healer. "Music is the most important thing in Alec's life. If his hearing is affected in any way, it's going to be--"

The Healer nodded stiffly. "We do understand that, Mr. Malfoy, but--"

"I don't think you do," Draco interrupted mildly. "I know what you've told Harry, but I don't think you understand that this is not something to just brush aside. We know he's doing much better than before, but please don't minimize our fears."

The Healer pursed her lips. "Very well."

"Thank you," said Draco blandly, and she left, her mouth in a tight line.

Harry smiled at Draco tiredly. "I don't think you're her favourite person right now."

"Probably not." Draco smiled back. "Listen, have you eaten since the last time I was here?"

Harry blinked. "Erm. When was the last time you were here?"

"Yesterday."

"Oh." He blinked some more.

"You have no idea, do you?" Draco sighed. "Here." He set a bag of Chocolate Frogs and what looked like a packet of crisps onto the side table. "Eat. Please."

"I'm fine," said Harry.

"You're not. You need to sleep, eat, and take a shower. And shave," he said, running a finger along Harry's jaw.

Harry blinked, and Draco drew back, taking the other chair next to Alec's bed and clearing his throat. "Thought there were supposed to be people here with you? Your e-mail said Demelza'd be here."

"She came earlier, but Alec needed to be put back into sleep again for a treatment, so she took her twins back home. Besides, they were wearing Alec out."

"Is it still all right for Ben to come see Alec?" Draco leaned over Alec, brushing his hair back. "Looks like he's still sleeping an awful lot."

"Yeah, he's just being kept asleep right now while they do treatments for the muscles in his hands. He should be awake in an hour or so."

Draco paused. "He'll be all right. His hearing, I mean."

"That's what I keep telling myself." Harry sighed. "Not always doing so well believing it."

Draco nodded. "In the meantime, back to the topic at hand. You need to take a nap."

"I will, I will, it's just..." _that it's not terribly restful, plunging into memories and hallucinations every time I close my eyes--_

"Look, you've a big enough bed here; use it." Draco sighed as Harry opened his mouth to protest. "I'll stay here. You've been mostly awake for almost a week. You're not doing Alec any good this way."

"The Weasleys've been trying to get me to rest this whole time too; I just haven't been able to--"

"Try again. You're exhausted."

Harry gave in. "Fine," he said, putting his glasses on the night table and lying down next to Alec. "Wake me up if he does, please."

"I will."

_"He'll be all right," the Healer had said, and the world started again. But it started in slow motion, and oddly distorted. He was aware of Draco's hand in his, then Draco supporting him, almost holding him up, as the Healer explained Alec's injuries and current condition and Harry did his best to listen, did his best to filter out the sights and sounds around him--_

_"Very strong little boy..."_

_"Thank God, thank God," Molly sobbed, having burst into tears in her husband's arms the moment the Healer had said those magical words._

_"Won't wake up for a while yet - not to worry, though..."_

_Fred and George drew near, their pale faces wearing eerily identical expressions, as Ron and Hermione whispered words of comfort to one another and the light in the hospital waiting room seemed somehow brighter._

_"Not sure he'll be totally unscathed, but that's our assumption right now..."_

_"Can we see him?" Draco had asked._

_"Yes, of course," the Healer said, and it had momentarily occurred to Harry that Draco had said "we" and that the Healer had accepted that without question._

_"Harry, we'll t-tell the rest of the family," George said._

_"Malfoy, we'll let Kara know too," Fred said, and Draco glanced at him, startled._

_"Thanks," he said uncertainly, and Ginny's picture smiled at him from the waiting room wall._

_"... kept in a Healer-induced coma for a few days..."_

_Alec floated in a bubble, his small features indistinct, a bruise at his temple..._

_"He just needs to grow till he can be out of the bubble," Ron told his son Jason, as they watched Alec floating. Jason nodded, his blue eyes very serious, and reached out for the bubble hesitantly._

_"And he won't be able to play till he's all better," Ben told Jason seriously. "Even after he gets out of the bubble you need to be gentle."_

He jerked awake.

"Go back to sleep," Draco murmured impatiently and stood up, leaned over Alec and touched Harry's shoulder to gently push him back down.

Harry lay back. No change from Alec. He yawned, his head fuzzy, and almost chuckled to himself. Funny the way dreams worked. Alec hadn't been in a bubble; that was Ron and Hermione's boys, both born too early and both finishing their development in a magical womb. Nothing Alec had been subjected to.

The Healer's words were pretty much as they had been, though. And the confusing jumble of words and feelings throughout her reassurances that Alec would live.

He closed his eyes again, reaching for sleep.

Gave in and sat up, running a hand through his hair.

"You know, you don't have to be here," he said to Draco. "I won't sleep anyway--"

"I can't be with Ben right now anyway," said Draco, handing Harry his glasses. "Kara's with him, but my own magic was interfering with Ben's treatment. I've been banished for the next four hours, till he's ready to be released."

"Oh." Harry sank into the chair next to Draco.

"So, is the schedule working well?"

"Yeah, good so far. They kept coming in waves for the first few days." Harry wearily spared a thought of thanks to Percy Weasley for bringing order to that situation; it hadn't been easy, having his small flat inundated by Weasleys off and on, no matter how well-meaning or welcome their presence. He let his head drop forward and rubbed the back of his neck, startled when Draco gently moved his hands away and started massaging it himself.

"Any reporters?" Draco asked.

"No. I've wards. Bill put them up." He suppressed a moan of contentment as his neck muscles relaxed slightly. "Only family and Healers allowed anywhere near the place."

Draco's hand paused briefly. "I didn't feel them."

"You and Kara and Ben were added in. Fred's suggestion, actually." Harry paused and rubbed his eyes, vaguely registering that Draco didn't seem as surprised by that as Harry had thought he'd be. "How's Ben doing?"

"Pretty well. Other than irritable as hell."

"Good. Not the irritable part. The pretty well part."

"Your family's been to see him, by the way," said Draco.

"Really?"

"Well, none of Kara's friends can visit him at St. Mungo's, of course. And he was getting restless. Granger and Weasley brought their kids over; so did Bill, and George and Demelza. Even Fred dropped by for a bit."

"Did it help?"

"Yes and no. He's getting rather twitchy."

"I can imagine." Ben was such an active little boy. Harry couldn't imagine him confined to a hospital room for days on end.

There was a pause.

_God, Ginny, what I wouldn't give for you to be here right now too._

"Draco. I... don't know what I would've done if you hadn't been here."

Draco shrugged. "You would've been all right."

"I'm not sure about that."

"You've got your family behind you," Draco said, and Harry could almost feel the effort it cost him to say that without bitterness.

"Not the same." Harry tilted his head as Draco's hand moved to the side of his neck. "It's not the same. You're the closest thing Alec has to another parent. He's woken up and seen you with him, and he's smiled because you were there. You've told the Healers not to minimize the hearing issue..." _You literally held me up while I was ready to collapse with fear--_

There was a knock at the door. "Harry? All right to come in?"

"Yeah, sure," he said, and Draco withdrew his hand from Harry's neck.

Damn. That had felt rather nice.

Ron entered, carrying a cup of tea and a newspaper. "Hi, Malfoy," he said pleasantly, putting them both on the side table. "How's Ben?"

"Good, good."

"Still no news about Alec's hearing?"

"Still no news." Draco paused. "How's Hermione?"

Ron sat down at the foot of the bed, smiling as Alec rolled over in his sleep. "Good. Getting ready to go back to work."

Draco blinked. "Back to work? I thought she was staying home with your kids."

"She was, but we'd finally decided she'd go back to work when Joshua was ten months old and I'd stay at home." Ron registered Draco's slight puzzlement. "Thought Harry'd told you."

"Oh. No, that must've been after--" Draco cut himself off before saying "we broke up," but there it was, floating among them.

"Mr. Potter - oh!" said a mediwitch, entering the room. She smiled nervously at Draco, a bit flustered. "Erm. Mr. Malfoy. Pleased to meet you."

Draco's eyebrows rose. "Thank you."

"Mr. Potter, we're supposed to give Alec another dose of Nasturtium potion now." She started to pour one of the potions by the bed into a small silver spoon, muttering a spell at it. She glanced at Draco shyly. "Mr. Malfoy, I was asked to tell you that your little boy is doing very well. Should be released early, in an hour or two. He's looking forward to seeing his teddy."

"His teddy?" Draco repeated, mystified.

"Yes."

"He doesn't have one."

"Oh. His mum seemed to know what it was."

Draco shook his head.

"Must be a Muggle teddy though, she said it wouldn't work in a magical place."

Draco's frown cleared. "His telly!" he said, and Harry and Ron chuckled.

"Alec?" the mediwitch said, waving her wand over Alec and gently bringing him back to consciousness. "Dearie, let's get you sitting up and let's take our potion now, shall we?" Harry moved back onto the bed and pulled Alec onto his lap, cradling him and turning him towards the mediwitch.

"Don't want to," Alec said sleepily, turning away from the silver spoon. "'S yucky."

"Come on, Alec," Draco leaned forward and smiled at him, and Alec blinked at him drowsily and stopped squirming.

"He really responds well to you, doesn't he?" the mediwitch said, once Alec's potion was downed and Alec was mostly back to sleep.

"I suppose so," Draco said.

"He's lucky to have you both," said the mediwitch, before scurrying off with a half-embarrassed smile.

"What was that all about?" Draco said.

Ron looked at him in surprise. "You haven't read today's paper, I take it," he said.

"Bloody hell," muttered Draco, and Harry's heart sank. He hadn't been paying much attention, but had seen a few headlines in papers left discarded in the hospital. Apparently the accident at the stadium had made the news in a big way, and was still newsworthy almost a week later. Between the publicity and the letters and e-mails and few Howlers he'd received, he couldn't blame Draco if Draco decided to hide from the wizarding world for the next ten years, as soon as he was able to take Ben home.

"I brought a copy for Harry," said Ron, nodding at the side table. "You may want to take a look." He chuckled at Draco's expression. "No, seriously."

"No thanks," Draco said stiffly. "Well, Harry, you've got your family here - I'll get out of the way--"

"You don't have to," said Ron.

Draco gave a casual shrug. "I wasn't going to stay very long anyway," he said. "Ben's being released in a few hours, and--"

"Draco?" Alec murmured, turning over. "Sing to me? That sunrise song from Kara's choir?"

"You'll have to stay now, mate," said Ron with a smirk. "You can't let Harry do that; we all know what he sounds like." He got up. "Listen, I have to go too, Mum's expecting me back. I just wanted to check in and bring Harry the paper."

Draco gave a sigh and leaned forward, taking Alec's hand and murmuring to him reassuringly. Harry sat back, glancing at the paper as Draco began to sing softly.

_Potter's Mystery Man Revealed_

He sighed and picked up the paper, then began to read.

Half an hour later, he put the paper down.

"Draco, I really think maybe you should read this," he said slowly. Draco looked up at him expressionlessly, then let go of Alec's hand and switched places with Harry, taking the paper. Harry settled himself down next to Alec, who'd subsided into peaceful sleep a while ago, and let his mind drift again as Draco read.

He held Alec's small fingers in his own, remembering the dust, and shouting, the freezing sensation in his heart as he felt his entire world teetering on the brink once more, shutting down everything but cold grey fear for Alec. The Healer's words regarding Ben's condition momentarily breaking through like a brief ray of sunshine, before the cold closed in again. Knowing that if Alec didn't survive, there was no way he could go on.

And Draco. Clinging to Draco for strength, barely hanging on until he could see his son again. Finally seeing Alec again, feeling gratitude flooding every fiber of his being at the soft, slow rise and fall of Alec's chest.

He looked over at Draco, his brow furrowed as he read. Wondered what it was he was reading now: the listing of his various crimes, or the witnesses from the accident telling how he'd saved Alec's life? The section on his time in Azkaban, or the rescue workers praising his actions?

"You know," Draco finally said slowly, "I don't know if I really did any of what they say I did."

"Sorry?" Harry asked, frowning slightly.

"I... I went back for Alec, but the part of the wall he was under hadn't collapsed yet. It didn't fall at all."

"It did eventually."

"That's only because the rescue workers Vanished it, once they thought everyone was out."

"That might've hurt Alec too, if he'd still been under there."

"They were pretty sure there wasn't anybody still in there - and they know how to do that safely anyway. These people are saying I should be forgiven for... well, everything, because I saved your son's life. I don't think I did."

"Does it matter? You went into a dangerous place to rescue a child that wasn't even yours."

"He's as good as--" Draco began dismissively, then cut himself off and looked away. "I just don't think--"

"You showed more bravery than any of those people thought you could. That's why they changed their minds about you. It has nothing to do with whether or not you were directly responsible for saving anybody's life."

"Maybe not to you."

Harry gazed at Draco, who was looking down at the part of the article that listed his crimes and record in Azkaban. Right before they named Ben, again - though happily, Harry had yet to see a picture of him in the press.

"I'm sorry," Harry said. "Sorry you're still getting bad publicity."

"It's funny, this is what I was afraid of all along," said Draco thoughtfully. "That people would find out. That Ben might get hurt. And that... is exactly what happened."

Harry winced, nodding.

"But not... I didn't expect anybody to say anything like... this." He gazed at the photograph of the collapsed stadium.

"Even after some of the Weasleys had accepted you?"

Draco shrugged. "It's more tolerance than acceptance," he pointed out.

"Did you read what George and Demelza said about you in the article? What more do you want?" Harry paused, realizing that probably sounded pretty insensitive, though Draco hadn't reacted. "I - I'm sorry," he said awkwardly. "I didn't mean that the way it came out." Draco shrugged, still gazing at the paper. "And... I'm sorry you were still targeted. I'm sorry that what you were afraid of happened."

There was a long silence, and Harry wished he could reach out to him again, but there was a barrier between them now. Had been, ever since their break-up, only briefly vanishing during the first horrific hours in the hospital. And he was too exhausted right now, too battered by fatigue and all of the emotions of the last few days, to do more than wish that barrier gone. Maybe if he'd had more energy, he might have been able to reach out, or to try to fight for them, but...

Draco glanced at his watch and got up. "I really should get back to Ben now. I'll bring him by when he's released, all right?"

"All right," said Harry, and settled back into the chair. He held Alec's hand and smoothed back his hair, shorter now than ever before, where the Healers had had to work to heal head injuries that would probably have killed a Muggle child.

He stifled a yawn and rubbed his eyes, then closed them, just for a few minutes...

_Alec's hair was short, he'd noticed when he was finally allowed to come see him, and for the first time ever it was as messy as Harry's had been when he was little. Draco had smoothed it down, a small smile on his lips._

_"He'll look like himself again," Hermione said, smiling. "Soon."_

_If only Alec's hair were one of their major concerns, Harry thought, everyone would be a lot happier._

Sabotage at Brand-New Pennington Stadium! Death Eaters Suspected!_ said the front page of the Prophet, and Ron vanished it with an angry flick of his wand before Harry had a chance to read it._

_"Don't worry, Mr. Malfoy," said the no-nonsense Head of St. Mungo's Security. "Your son's room has been protected." She pointed to the intense blue glow around Ben's door, and Bill nodded with satisfaction._

_"And I've warded your flat," said Bill. "Kara's, too. Probably should've asked you first, but I didn't want any hothead to track down where you lived and torch your flat while you were still worried about Ben."_

_"It's not right, the Aurors not letting him have any kind of disguise, even now," Molly was whispering to Hermione. Crookshanks shook his head in disapproval._

_"He put his own life in danger and they still won't let him?" asked Hermione angrily. "That's outrageous!"_

_"Daddy, I can't read that, it's fuzzy here," said Alec, blinking myopically at Harry._

_"It's okay, little man, you might need glasses but that's not so bad," said Harry. And when had Alec learned to read anything but music?_

_"Mummy didn't have glasses, though," Alec said, a little worried._

_"I guess now you've really got my eyes, then."_

_"Harry, he'll be fine," Draco said, taking him into his arms. "You heard them, Alec will be fine. The Healers know what they're doing."_

_"Didn't you leave?" Harry asked him, confused._

_"Of course not," said Draco, running a hand through his hair. "Where would I go?"_

_"Eet eez not fuzzy 'ere," said Fleur disapprovingly, tossing her silvery hair. "You 'ave to teach Alec not to lie like that."_

_"He's not lying," Harry said angrily._

_"But that is," said the mediwitch, pointing to words scrawled on the wall in angry red._

Death Eater: only Azkaban wants you back!

_"It's not that bad," Draco said, and sang a soft lullaby to Alec and Ben, who settled into their beds and closed their eyes._

_"Those people don't matter," he said to Harry, and Harry believed him..._

Harry was drifting slowly into consciousness, but the chair was so warm and soft and comfortable that all he wanted was to keep sleeping, maybe forever. He snuggled deeper into the comforter, the clean, homey scent of it filling him with images of pine trees and flowers and...

He blinked. He hadn't had a comforter on him, last he remembered. Must've fallen asleep in the chair again, and whoever was supposed to come in next had kindly covered him up. And transformed the chair into a low couch to make it more comfortable, and taken Harry's glasses off. He yawned. Glanced over at Alec and gave a small start. Alec was asleep on the bed, and so was Ben.

Ben.

He sat up, picked up his glasses from the side table and glanced at the window, registering that the light had dimmed considerably. He'd fallen asleep sometime in the late morning, and it looked like evening...

"You're awake," murmured Draco, settling into the chair next to him and holding out a tray with two teas and a plate of biscuits. Harry automatically took it, feeling almost awake.

"How long have you been here?"

"Not that long, actually. Got here about an hour ago. Demelza was here again, reading, but she mentioned her twins seem to be coming down with something, so I sent her home."

"Oh. That's good." He glanced at the boys. "How long have they been out?"

"About ten minutes. They weren't terribly cheerful anyway. Thank god for magic-induced naps. Ben's driving me insane."

Harry smiled tiredly, and Draco cleared his throat. "Demelza says Molly's coming in for her overnight shift."

"Right."

Harry took a bite of biscuit, though to tell the truth he wasn't that hungry. He gazed at Ben, noting how utterly different he looked when asleep. His eyes were the same shape and roughly the same colour as Draco's, but asleep, the resemblance between the two was far less pronounced. Although come to think of it, Ben's face, once it lost its baby fat, might turn out a bit angular... maybe in the cheekbones... the eyebrows, though, and the hairline, were all Kara.

"Where's Kara?"

"At home, resting. She said it would be all right if Ben had a sleepover here, as long as you weren't alone. She didn't want to saddle you with an extra sick kid. I'll let her know Molly will be here."

"Yeah, of course," Harry said, nodding. "Of course. He's welcome to stay." He yawned. Odd to still feel so off, even after a long nap. He thought of his schedule for the next day: Healer's appointments, a meeting with the goblins, discussing handing over some ongoing projects to his colleagues, as well as his eventual return to work...

If he could just get a full night's good sleep, maybe tomorrow he would be able to face all of that. Maybe he would also be able to help Alec enjoy Ben's visit. And not wish that Draco had also stayed the night.

Things were going well with Draco. They had been slowly getting back into a friendship of sorts in the last few days, relaxing a bit in each other's presence, even teasing each other sometimes. Was that going to change now, after today's article?

He sighed and watched their boys sleeping. God, if only things were different... if only this were a regular sleepover, both kids healthy and happy, Draco staying here with them, if only they could go back to before the accident, before their break-up...

"Kara's been spending a lot of time with Ben lately," Draco said abruptly. "A lot more than I thought she would."

"That's good," said Harry. "She's a good mum. Just... distracted sometimes."

"Yeah," said Draco. "She's been praying a lot, too." He paused, smiled slightly. "I'm not sure St. Mungo's has ever had a Wiccan praying at their chapel."

Harry smiled. "Probably not."

Draco shifted slightly in his chair, then took off his glasses and started to polish them. "I... I ended up praying again too," he said. He put his glasses back on. "Merlin, I haven't done that in years, not since I first ended up in the Muggle world."

Harry's eyebrows went up. Draco had never seemed to genuinely believe any of Kara's Goddess worship; Harry had assumed he had only become involved in it out of curiosity, and then left it when he'd learned enough about the subject to satisfy that curiosity. He waited, but Draco seemed done with the topic, his thoughtful gaze fixed on the boys.

Harry sighed, wondering if maybe he should pray too. For Alec's full recovery, for the publicity over Draco to die down... for restful sleep that wasn't plagued with flashbacks...

"Kara said, a while ago, that I'd made some bad decisions," said Draco, breaking his silence again, but still looking at the boys. "Going against the wishes of the Goddess."

Harry blinked, confused. "You mean... why, because Ben was hurt? Did she think that was some sort of... punishment for that?"

Draco shook his head quickly. "No, no, nothing like that. Just... that I'd made some poor decisions. And that I needed to apologize to Her. The Goddess, that is. Not Kara."

"Right." Poor decisions. Yeah, that was one way of characterizing Draco's life before the end of the war. Though it seemed odd for Kara to say that the Goddess needed apologies. It seemed to Harry that Draco had done enough apologizing and atoning in the years between his crimes and now, but maybe the Goddess needed things more personal. Harry certainly wouldn't have been able to say anything on the matter; everything he knew about Wiccan customs and beliefs could probably be painlessly tattooed onto his eyelids.

And speaking of eyelids, his were still gritty from lack of sleep. He rubbed them wearily, glancing at Draco and noting dark shadows under his eyes too. Vaguely wondering what his own face looked like right now, and deciding he probably didn't want to know.

"Though I suppose Kara's owed some apologies too," Draco said quietly. "She... she says the Goddess needs to be given thanks for Her gifts, and apologies when we don't appreciate what She's given us."

Harry turned to look at him. Draco was looking off to the side, his voice hushed. Harry blinked and made himself pay closer attention. There was something happening here, Draco was trying to communicate something to him, and they might not be lovers any more but they were still friends, and the last thing Harry wanted to do was miss whatever Draco was trying to say just because he was tired.

Draco swallowed hard. "It's hard, when you pray... you never know if what you hear or feel is somebody actually listening and answering, or whether it's all in your head. Just a manifestation of your own need to have someone listen to you."

Harry hesitated. "Did you... hear an answer? When you prayed?"

Draco gazed at the boys silently for a while. "It's hard to tell; sleeplessness and stress and all that. I... I apologized to Her for what I'd done. In case She existed, and in case Kara was right."

Now he was blushing mightily, and Harry was getting completely confused. There must be some reason for what he was saying, because Draco just didn't do this kind of thing, reveal difficult personal things, just to hear himself talk.

"And... I think She responded."

Harry tilted his head to the side. "What did she say?"

"That Kara was right. That I'd been wrong. That I needed to apologize to you too." Draco grimaced slightly. "Though if that was really just me, I'm rather annoyed at myself."

Harry stared at him, utterly lost. Why apologize to him, specifically? To some of the Weasleys, maybe, or to people like Katie Bell, but...

"I still think I was right, at the time, but I know it hurt you and Alec and Ben..." Draco stopped, looking down. "I felt like I had to do it, had to put Ben first. It felt like I'd been... selfish, before. That I was letting how I felt for you come first, ahead of Ben, and I couldn't live with myself for doing that. But then... I don't know, Kara said that she thought the Goddess would disapprove and you know how much I believe in that kind of thing, but." He stopped, pressing his lips together.

Harry stared at him.

"So. I think, what I want, is to say I was wrong. And that I understand if - after everything that's happened... I know I hurt you too, and if you want to keep things the way they are, that's... but I just wanted you to know I wish I hadn't." He stopped. "What we had... not just you and me, but the kids, too... that was a gift," he said quietly. "And I wanted to tell you how s--"

And then he wasn't talking any more, because Harry had pulled him close and pressed their lips together, stopping his words. It wasn't something that needed words, and really, neither one of them would be likely to say any useful ones. Harry would probably just be incoherent, and Draco didn't really do humble terribly well.

They could do this pretty well, though. They could certainly communicate to each other every apology and every forgiveness and every longing thought they'd had since they'd broken up. He could show Draco every night he'd wished Draco would say exactly this, every time he'd thought that if Draco came back he'd never let him go again, because this losing loved ones routine was just not on any more, and every moment he'd thanked God that Draco had been there during the accident and afterwards...

They didn't need words for any of that.

God, he'd missed this. Harry gave himself to the kiss, noting distantly that though it wasn't exactly arousing - not with two sleeping children lying two feet away from them - it felt better than just about anything he could ever remember. The rush of relief, and elation, and a sense of coming home, of everything becoming right again--

"Oh!"

They jerked apart, staring at the doorway, where Molly, Percy and George Weasley stood gaping at them.

"Well. How... cozy," George finally broke the silence, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. Harry glanced at Molly, who looked slightly nauseated, and Percy, whose mouth was drawn into a tight, thin line, before returning to George, who was now apparently trying to suppress a case of the giggles.

"Is this a b-bad time?" George asked brightly.

"Erm."

"I suppose we'd best be going, then..." Molly began, her voice uncertain.

"Harry," Percy began. "This is... this is hardly the most sens--"

"-sensual k-kiss in the world," George broke in smoothly, drawing an outraged glare from Percy, followed by a muffled grunt of pain as he calmly put a hand over Percy's mouth and stepped on Percy's foot. "Come on, mate, n-needs a little more tongue, a l-little less--"

Percy struggled free and stepped on George's foot, highly annoyed. "That is _not_ what I was going to say at all. This is not--"

"-any of our business, Percy," Molly said quietly.

"Do you t-two need to be left alone?" George asked. Harry and Draco gave each other slightly panicked looks. "That would b-be a yes. Let's go." He turned on his heel, grabbing Percy's elbow and dragging him out despite his protestations.

Molly looked like she was suppressing a number of things as well, but she made herself smile. "We'll be back tomorrow." She hesitated and moved closer to the bed. "The boys are all right? Both of them?"

"Yes," Draco said.

"Ben's release went well?"

"Yes."

"That's good. He's a wonderful little boy. Tell him I'll come by tomorrow with some--"

"Tomorrow it's Fred's shift!" Percy said, coming to the door again.

"Perce." George gave him a gentle cuff to the back of the head. "Shut it and l-leave them alone."

Molly gazed at Alec and Ben fondly, and tucked the blanket up a little higher on them both. "Take care of them, dear," she said to Harry, giving him a tight hug. She turned to go, then touched Draco's shoulder. "And please... take care of Harry."

"I'll do my best."

"Good." She smiled at him, not quite the warm motherly smile she gave Harry, but getting there. "We'll leave you two alone, then."

"Merlin, Perce, g-give it up!" George's annoyed voice came floating through the open door as Molly moved into the hallway.

"But the schedule--"

"Is quite lovely and we're all very proud of you drawing it up, dear," they heard Molly say patiently. "We'll just let it go for tonight, all right? Into the Floo with you, now," she said, and there was a whoosh as the Floo activated.

Harry and Draco stared at each other for a moment, then the corner of Draco's mouth quirked and Harry realized with a shock that his own was doing the same and that the unfamiliar feeling bubbling up from inside him was... laughter. Laughter - God, he hadn't laughed in so long, and Draco's eyes were bright with amusement as they tried to stifle themselves--

And they were going to wake up the boys. They hurried out of the bedroom, and Harry leaned back against the wall, letting go.

"Oh my God, did you see his face--" Draco said, laughing helplessly beside him.

"He's going to have screaming nightmares, I swear," Harry choked out. Percy the perfectly appropriate. If he'd hand-picked the Weasley most likely to suffer serious mental damage if he stumbled across the two of them snogging...

All right, that's enough, he told himself sternly after a few minutes, getting control of himself and wondering at the euphoric feeling still flooding through him. Probably due to lack of sleep; the encounter hadn't actually been that funny. But it was all right; he could laugh, there was a _reason_ to laugh - in fact, many reasons to laugh, because Ben was out of the hospital, and Alec would get better, and Harry didn't have to keep facing any of this alone. Forget this pathetic façade of settling for Draco being just another good friend, forget pining and wishing and regretting.

Draco wiped at his eyes, finally settling himself down as well. "Screaming nightmares. Yeah." He sighed and shook his head ruefully. "I'd say a few of them will."

Harry shrugged, still chuckling. "Not as many as you'd think. Fred and his wife may cause problems; I don't much care."

"He won't," Draco said quietly. Harry looked at him questioningly. "He... he said maybe we were better off together. If I'd left you because of - well, because of people like him."

Harry's eyebrows shot up. "What? When?"

"At the hospital. And he apologized for how he'd acted before."

Harry gaped, struggling to process Draco's words. Draco swallowed hard, then added hesitantly, "A lot of apologies going around these days, I think."

"Yeah." Harry touched his arm, smiling as Draco breathed a small sigh of relief.

Draco looked down. "It's... I am really s--"

"Don't talk," Harry interrupted him and kissed him again, clinging and not particularly caring. His head was throbbing, and his back hurt, and his eyes still felt gritty with lack of sleep, all of him weary and worn, and no doubt Draco felt the same way, but it didn't matter. It didn't matter at all. He felt better than he could remember feeling in years. He kissed Draco again and felt warmth spreading through him as Draco's arms tightened around him and he surrendered to Harry, mouth opening under his, hands grasping him, running through his hair - and there was no way either of them was up for much more than this, whether they were near the kids or not, but there was something intensely comforting about it anyway...

It felt right. It felt like home, like healing, and it didn't matter what had happened before now, or why Draco had left. He caressed Draco's cheek, noting the roughness of stubble there, holding him close. And it was heaven, feeling Draco breathing against him, drowning in his scent and his warmth, the low hum of his magic caressing Harry's senses.

Harry pulled back slightly. The impulse to just go with this and enjoy it was almost overwhelming, but he needed to know for sure. He rested his forehead against Draco's, looking down as they held each other close. "So..." he began, and cleared his throat. "Does this mean - are you..."

Draco shrugged. "If you'll have me back," he said quietly.

_If._ Harry laughed softly and drew him close again, and answered him in the best way he knew how.

**oooOOOooo**

**Author's Note:** The Sunrise song that Draco sings to Alec is _Sunrise, Sunset_, from _Fiddler on the Roof_. The lullabye Harry hears him sing in his dream is not actually a lullabye; it's a song called _When the Stars Fall_.

The lyrics can be found at

annafugazzi dot livejournal dot com slash 55489 dot html

and the songs themselves can be downloaded at

www dot 4shared dot com slash account slash file slash 45498189 slash 647af33b slash Sunrise underscore Sunset dot html

and

www dot 4shared dot com slash account slash file slash 63782069 slash e873dbf slash 09 underscore dash underscore When underscore the underscore Stars underscore Fall underscore dash underscore Hatfield underscore dash underscore ORYC dot html

(Don't forget to remove all spaces and convert all dots, slashes, dashes and underscores to their character equivalents.)


	16. Sep 1, 2013: The Sorting Hat

This is a DVD Extra for Bongo Monkeys, who said, _I would be interested in seeing maybe a one shot, about 6-10 years later, saying what houses the boys were in, how Harry and Draco's relationship has done over the years, and so on._

This is unbetaed. If you spot anything amiss, or are confused by anything, please let me know and I'll love you forever! For example, does anybody remember if the names of the first years are called as "Parkinson, Pansy" or "Pansy Parkinson"? I can't find my copy of Philosopher's Stone :(

Also: if you'd like to see which Extras were requested, and which ones have already been written, check the DVD Requests page. They're now listed.

**September 1, 2013f**

"When do you think they'll get to us?" Ben whispered nervously, and Alec shrugged. "Looks like alphabetical order. Dad didn't say it would be alphabetical order. I was hoping if we were in the first boat we'd get Sorted first. He didn't say it was an old hat, either. Did you know it was an old hat? I wonder how old it is." He wrinkled his nose. "I wonder if they've ever washed it."

Alec gave him a gentle nudge and Ben rolled his eyes, but closed his mouth. Babbling, right. Babbling annoyed people, apparently. Ben knew that, but he couldn't help it sometimes. It didn't help that Alec tended to completely clam up when nervous and, therefore, at the very worst moments, an absolute deadly pall would hang over them both unless Ben spoke up.

Ben glanced around at the other eleven-year-olds crowded at the edge of the Great Hall, all of them nervous, all of them excited. Many of them trying to pretend they weren't. Whispering to each other. Would be nice if Alec would do that, he thought irritably. Since they'd boarded the Hogwarts Express he'd been nearly silent. Sure would be nice to have somebody to talk to, for once.

Ben looked around for the kids who'd been in their compartment on the Express. He spotted one of them, a small, lively black-haired girl, but in place of the friendly smile she'd had on the Express, she was now looking at him with suspicion as a gangly blond girl next to her whispered in her ear. Tiny eyes on the blonde girl, her mouth pursed up in distaste.

Ben swallowed hard. That look was familiar. Probably found out who his Da was.

Sod them, then. He turned his back on them both and looked around the Hall curiously as the Hat cried out, "SLYTHERIN!" and a boy joined the long table to the far right, to a smattering of applause from that table.

"Delano, Franklin," said the friendly young professor in charge of the first years, and a small boy with buckteeth made his way to the chair and sat, nervously, looking up at the Hat as it was lowered down to him - and barely touched his head before shouting out,

"RAVENCLAW!"

There was a round of applause from the table next to Slytherin. Ben counted up. That was two Gryffindor, three Ravenclaw, one Slytherin and one Hufflepuff already. He gave the Hufflepuff table a long look.

"D'you think the Weasleys are right? That that's where we're going?" Ben whispered, and Alec shrugged. "Doesn't look so scary. They look friendly. Those Ravenclaws all look so serious." Alec nodded and Ben suppressed the urge to poke him, just to get him to make a sound.

A girl with long brown braids standing next to them suddenly turned to Alec. "Are you Harry Potter's son?" she asked abruptly.

Alec blinked at her, startled. "Yeah," he said timidly.

"And you're Draco Malfoy's son," she said, turning to Ben.

Ben lifted his chin. "Yeah, I am," he said clearly, hiding his nervousness. He'd learned, he'd learned very well, that it didn't do to get defensive. He'd had a few nasty encounters with people who recognized him - "Death Eater spawn" hissed at him at Diagon Alley, that sort of thing - but it didn't mean he had to act like he'd done anything wrong. Because he hadn't.

The girl was gazing at them both impassively, and Ben felt Alec step closer to him. He could almost feel Alec's nerves. He nudged Alec, distracting him. "Found Michelle," he murmured, nodding towards their cousin's table, and she grinned and waved at them, making some comment to her tablemates. Ben glanced at the rest of them. Although Dad hadn't said a word, it was obvious he was afraid Ben would be in Slytherin, and Ben could certainly see why. They really didn't look terribly friendly over there. Michelle seemed to be in her element, though. The only Weasley ever to be Sorted into Slytherin, Uncle Ron had said last year when they'd got the news, and Uncle Fred had pressed his lips together and then cracked a joke and tried to pretend it didn't matter to him, but they could tell it did. Not that Michelle cared.

Well, at least if Ben got Sorted there, disappointed as Dad would be, he'd have one ally. Nobody messed with Michelle Weasley.

Who would take care of Alec, though?

"Goyle, Laurence," the professor said, and a dark-haired boy next to the girl with long braids gulped, glancing around the room nervously. The girl gave him a small shove and he moved towards the Hat. She watched him closely as the Hat deliberated over him.

What does it do? wondered Ben. How does it decide? Why so quickly for some kids, and so slowly for others?

"RAVENCLAW!" the Hat shouted, and the boy got up off the chair as the girl next to Ben cheered.

"Good for you, Laurence!" she shouted, and the boy moved nervously towards the Ravenclaw table. There was a pause as a small house-elf appeared and tugged on the sleeve of the professor in charge of the first years.

"Oh come on, don't stop now!" the girl next to him muttered, but the professor and the elf appeared to be involved in a deep discussion. The girl blew out her breath and glanced back at Laurence. "Ravenclaw," she said to Ben. "Wonder what his Howler will say tomorrow."

"Howler?" Ben blinked at her. "His parents would send him a Howler for getting into Ravenclaw? Why would they get angry at that?"

"Oh, not angry," the girl said, chuckling. "Only all of Dad's letters are Howlers. He can't write terribly well. I expect he'll be happy for us both no matter where we end up. Though he might wonder a bit, if I end up in Hufflepuff." She frowned slightly.

"Was that your brother, then?" Ben asked, and the girl nodded, her eyes on the professor and the elf as the elf nodded and Disapparated. "You're twins?"

"Goyle, Lindsay!" the professor said, and the girl instantly forgot Ben and almost bounced towards the stool in her eagerness.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the Hat a moment later, and the girl gave her brother an apologetic glance before moving to her new table.

"Greely, Ben!"

Ben gulped and forced himself to move to the stool, swallowing hard as the old Hat settled onto his head.

"Gryffindor if I ever saw one," the Hat said decisively, and Ben started in alarm.

"No!"

"Beg pardon?"

Ben blinked. The Hat... the Hat had answered him. Could anybody else hear it?

"I - I want to be with my brother Alec," he whispered. "He's small, and he's shy. And he gets distracted and doesn't really talk to people if I'm not there. Please, he's my responsibility."

"What House is he in?" the Hat asked.

"None yet. But he's Harry Potter's son too - Harry's my stepdad, it's a long story - so loads and loads of people will want to talk to him and he can't really handle that."

"Potter? Likely a Gryffindor too, then," said the Hat.

Ben shook his head. "No, not Alec. He's small. He doesn't talk much. 'Cept with me."

"Where do you think he'll end up?" the Hat asked curiously.

"Could be Ravenclaw, 'cause he's good at music, but he doesn't really care about other school things... he's good at math, Auntie Hermione says he's really good, but..."

"You could be in Ravenclaw too you know," said the Hat, and Ben was startled.

"Really?"

"There's a fine mind in there," said the Hat. "If you think that's where the other lad might end up..."

"I don't know, though," said Ben miserably. "I don't know. Alec... if he's not interested in anything but music, then..."

"Then he might not be a good fit." The Hat seemed to clear its throat. Did the Hat even have a throat? "We're supposed to be thinking about where _you_ belong, though," it prompted Ben.

"I don't know..."

"Do you think Alec might be in Slytherin?"

"Not a chance," Ben said.

"No, nor would you. You know, while I do like to keep families together, the first priority is to put a child where he belongs. And you very much belong in Gryffindor." It paused. "Or Hufflepuff."

"Hufflepuff," said Ben decisively.

"And what if Alec isn't Sorted into Hufflepuff?"

"You'll have to change one of us, then," Ben said bravely.

"I don't do that," the Hat said, amused.

"You'll have to."

The Hat chuckled. "Very well, then. HUFFLEPUFF!"

Ben walked over to the Hufflepuff table in relief, and sat down next to the girl with braids, as Hewlett, Adolphus was called.

"So, will your dad be sending you a Howler, then?" she asked him with a grin.

"No. My family's all been saying Hufflepuff forever," said Ben.

"Really? That's interesting." She clapped as Eleanor Jonas was sorted into Ravenclaw. "Wouldn't have expected that, considering." She gave him a quick glance. "You cut your hair since the pictures in the paper last year, didn't you?"

"D'you think you know me just because you recognized me from a story in the paper?" Ben said, realizing he was possibly being rude, but the knot in his stomach was bigger now as he thought of what might go wrong. Like Alec going into Ravenclaw. Nobody he knew to keep him company. Alec was _famous_, and it always embarrassed him when people recognized him or asked him about Harry, and if he was in Ravenclaw the other students would expect a lot from him, and what if he tuned them out and started failing his classes because he couldn't be bothered to study anything but music, and then he didn't have any friends, and...

"I know more about you and your dad than what was in that story," the girl said, and he turned back to her. Lindsay Goyle, that was her name. "Those were nice robes, by the way. You were both ringbearers?"

"Yeah." Ben gave her a guarded glance. She really didn't seem unfriendly at all. "Our dads were pretty angry that the paper printed those pictures. It was supposed to be private."

Lindsay shrugged. "Harry Potter finally getting married again, to a former Death Eater. My mum said they should've been happy the papers didn't print your Floo address too."

Ben shrugged. Lisa Keitch went to Slytherin, and Andrew Kirke was called up.

"My dad said your dad hadn't changed much," said Lindsay.

"How would he know?"

"They used to be friends. A long time ago. Here."

Ben gaped at her, missing the next Sorting completely. "Really?"

"Yeah." Lindsay smiled at him. "My dad had to go to Azkaban, same as yours. He was just lucky that he wasn't as famous. But there've still been a few silly buggers who've tried to make trouble for us." She lifted her chin. "We don't let 'em."

He looked over at her brother, over at the Ravenclaw table. "Doesn't it bother you that you're not with your brother?" he asked, and Lewis, Matthew sat and the Hat settled over his eyes.

She frowned, puzzled. "Why? Ravenclaw would be deadly dull, don't you think? Too much reading, not enough fun. Much rather be here. Though it might've been nice to be in Gryffindor. Best Quidditch team, my mum says."

Ben nodded. McCormack, Roberta went to the Gryffindor table, and Midgen, Louise took her place on the stool.

"So you don't mind, being here? In Hufflepuff?" Ben asked Lindsay, his nerves drawing tighter as Alec's turn came closer and closer.

"No."

"Does anybody here know about your dad?"

"Other than you and my brother, I don't know," she said. "But I've friends in Ravenclaw. They're in third year, and my mum used to be friends with their mums. They know some pretty good hexes. They'll deal with anybody who wants to be nasty to us," she said grimly. "D'you know anybody?"

"Three cousins. Two in Gryffindor and one in Slytherin. Although..." he glanced over at the Gryffindor table, where Remy Weasley was busy chatting with a friend of his, utterly ignoring both Ben and Alec. "One of them's a bit of a prat. His brother's all right. And there's going to be another cousin here next year, and two more the year after that."

Midgen, Louise, went to Slytherin, Nehal, Sanjay went to Ravenclaw, and then...

"Potter, Alec!" the professor said, and smiled at Alec, who turned even paler. His green eyes met Ben's and he walked to the stool with the Hat, eyeing it distrustfully.

Ben's fists clenched, wishing he could go up to the front, near Alec. Harry didn't like it when Ben was overprotective, but Ben couldn't help it. Alec got so nervous, and had been known to trip or drop things at the worst times. At the wedding, Alec had been pale and shaky for hours beforehand, even though the wedding was small and all he and Ben had to do was say a few words during the ceremony.

He'd relaxed when they'd sung a song together, though. That part had been fun.

Come on, Alec, you can do this, Ben thought as Alec sat down on the stool, his freckles dark against his pale skin. Don't drop anything, don't fall off the stool, don't think about the fact that there's hundreds of people staring at you. Just relax and let the Hat do its job.

Ben fiddled with the collar of his brand new school robes, and hoped like hell that the Hat knew what it was doing.

**ooo000ooo**

"Had I known your mother was a Weasley," the Hat said, "I would've told the other lad that you'd be a Gryffindor too."

Alec's eyebrows went up. "You... you remember my mum?" he asked timidly.

"I remember every child I've ever Sorted," the Hat said firmly. "So, lad. Gryffindor, like your father and your mother?"

Alec blinked, his eyes covered by the Hat. "I could be in Gryffindor? Really?"

"Of course," said the Hat testily. "I don't place children where they don't belong."

"But... but Ben's always having to defend me."

"He doesn't have to," said the Hat. "You're quite capable of standing up for yourself, you know. Parents like yours, a spirit like yours... you've got plenty of bravery."

Alec hunched his shoulders uncomfortably. "I... not really..."

"Even defended Ben a few times, haven't you? Just now, when the Goyle girl recognized him. The first thing you did was step closer to him, just in case things turned nasty and he needed you."

How had the Hat known that? "That's different," Alec mumbled.

"It's often easier to fight for others than it is to fight for yourself," said the Hat. "But maybe you should start to learn how."

"I should?"

"It would make your father proud, wouldn't it?" said the Hat.

"It would, yeah," Alec said, and his heart beat a little faster. His father, and the cousins already in Gryffindor, and the ones who were sure they'd be in Gryffindor, and Granddad and Grandmum, and the uncles and aunts, and--

"It's too bad you weren't up first. The other lad would've made a fine Gryffindor as well."

"Why didn't he?"

"He didn't want to leave you on your own. He seems to think you require protection."

Alec swallowed.

"So, Gryffindor, then?"

Alec took a deep breath. "My dads'll be proud of me no matter where I am," he said slowly.

The Hat chuckled. "Well they'll have to be proud of you in Gryffindor or Hufflepuff, lad, because there's no way I'll place you in Slytherin - or in Ravenclaw, for all that you've got a fine mind for music. Which will it be, then?"

"Hufflepuff," said Alec firmly. "Like my brother."

"Just and loyal indeed." There was a small pause. "Very well, then. HUFFLEPUFF!"

**ooo000ooo**

"Well, that was certainly... unexpected," said the portrait of Severus Snape. "The children of Gregory Goyle, Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter, and a Weasley, all sitting together at the Hufflepuff table." He glanced at the other side of the Hall. "And the first Goyle in history to be Sorted into Ravenclaw. The Hat has finally gone senile."

Harry made a rude gesture at the portrait, feeling a little silly even as he did it. Not like the portrait could see through his Disillusionment charm. It could probably sense what he was doing, though, as it sneered in his general direction.

"Draco," it said, speaking to the spot where Draco was supposed to be. "Congratulations on your son's Sorting." Harry realized he was no better to able to read Snape's emotions now than he had been when Snape was alive. He wondered if even Draco could tell whether Snape was being condescending or sincere.

"Thank you," said Draco quietly.

"You'd better leave now, before somebody stumbles over you," the portrait added, and it was odd how he could sound regretful over Draco's departure and eager for Harry to be gone, at the same time. "Entertaining as it would be to watch you try to explain your presence here without implicating Longbottom."

Harry felt a touch on his shoulder and he and Draco carefully made their way around the last of the first years, and through the side door that Neville had left open for them. They waited until they were out in the corridor before Harry removed his charm and Draco removed Harry's cloak, and they swiftly made their way out of the building.

They picked up their brooms in silence, and impulsively Harry pulled Draco close for a quick kiss. Draco smiled and tightened his arms around Harry, not letting him go.

"No disappointment?" Draco asked.

"That neither one's in Gryffindor?" Harry asked, and shook his head. "No, not really. There's more to life than bravery. You? Slytherin?"

"God, no," Draco said, shuddering. "That'd be all Ben would need."

"Someday maybe Slytherin won't have the same stigma it does today," Harry said.

"Maybe." Draco shrugged carelessly. "Not my problem. There's more to life than upholding House honour."

"Fair enough. Now, let's go, before we get Neville in trouble." They hurried towards the edge of the castle grounds.

"It'll be odd, not having them home, won't it?" Draco commented.

"Not just odd," Harry said ruefully. "It's losing the last third of their childhood. Can't believe I never thought about how difficult this would be."

"We won't see them as much; that doesn't mean they're out of our lives. There'll just be fewer toys and messes to deal with, for a while." Draco gave him an affectionate nudge. "Cheer up. At least you don't have to deal with their departure throwing your job into chaos. I still have no idea how I'm going to compensate for losing two of the best choirmembers I've ever worked with."

Harry smiled. "Come on, you knew they wouldn't have been singing for you much for the next few years anyway, once their voices broke. Besides, don't tell me you're not excited to be conducting that new string orchestra." He grinned at Draco. "'London's newest rising star in orchestral directing', they called you, right?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "I need to stop Kara from e-mailing you those reviews. D'you think I could get permission to cast a few spells on her agent, get him to actually push her new CD, so she's too busy with her own career to bother me about mine?"

"If you can figure out a way to not make it sound quite as self-serving, maybe," Harry laughed. He looked back at the castle. "It's a bad sign that I've already counted the days to the Christmas hols, isn't it?"

Draco smiled. "I don't imagine there's too many parents who haven't."

Harry sighed. "You know, I'm not worried about Ben, so much. He's been wanting this forever. But Alec... I just hope he can manage to learn enough magic here to Apparate, some day. And not just live for music every hour of every day."

Draco squeezed his hand. "He's happy. He's good at what he does. And he knows what he's going to do with his future. That's more than most people can ever hope for, and he's only eleven."

Harry nodded. He'd had a pretty good idea of what he was going to do with his future around Alec's age too. Being destined for a life of music seemed a far better fate than being destined to kill or be killed by a powerful madman.

"Ginny would've been proud of him," Draco said.

"Would've been." Harry kissed him. "I'm proud of them both." They reached the gate and slipped through it, then he climbed onto his broomstick. "Come on," he said. "Let's stop at the next town and call Kara to let her know about the Sorting."

"And then let's go home," Draco said, and they lifted off.


	17. Nov 23: Weasley v Weasley

Here's one of the last Ember to Ember DVD Extras. This one sat like a quivering pile of jelly for many moons, until I got into a Fredless George kick and Fred eventually politely asked to be written not-dead for once. Not sure he'd appreciate the treatment he gets in this ficbit, but still. Undead Not-Dead Fred. This DVD Extra is for **Lisa3353**, who said, "I would love to read the scene between Fred and Anne (you have me on a Fred kick now) when he confronts her about sending Draco's picture to the paper." It takes place post-November, immediately after the incident where Harry confronts Fred about the same picture, believing Fred took it.

Thank you so much, **maya231**, for great beta, a long, long time ago ;)

**November 23, 2008**

Fred emerged from the Floo to the sound of children shouting and Anne's voice raised, and he blew out his breath in irritation. Right. He had just sent Michelle home for turning one of Wheezes' Silly Spiders into a gigantic hulking blood-drenched teddy bear, scaring the pants off her little brother. It seemed like a long time ago.

"What is the matter with you?" Anne was yelling, and Michelle's answer couldn't be heard. "You will apologize now!" Anne shouted.

"He's a stupid little shit!" Michelle shouted back, and Fred could feel his blood pressure rising, anger at both of them threatening to boil over fairly spectacularly. He put his wand down on the counter, not particularly wanting to destroy anything if his magic went a little wild. Acting like an adult might not be one of his top priorities most days, but he preferred to show a little more control over his temper and magic than a petulant teenager.

Pity Harry was still unable to do the same. Well, that was Harry. Wallowing in immaturity. Didn't mean Fred had to do the same. He absently rubbed his jaw where Harry had just punched him.

Tea. Tea might be a good idea, a good way to rein in his almost overwhelming desire to go upstairs right now, send the kids away, and have it out with Anne over the picture in The Prophet. He was far too angry to think clearly, and didn't particularly want to deliberately pick a fight; his fights with Anne sometimes left all four of them scared for days.

He started to search for tea. Nothing. Bugger. Now he remembered; Michelle had Transfigured it all into tiny yodeling frogs. Anne had not been amused.

Robbie wandered into the kitchen, still red-eyed and sniffling from the fright he'd suffered, and Fred made himself give his son a comforting smile. "Come here, Robbie," he said, and sat down, taking his son onto his lap. Robbie hugged him close, and Fred smiled and tickled him, making him giggle and drowning out the sound of Anne and Michelle still fighting - and settling his own turbulent emotions as well.

Different as night and day, his kids. Michelle reminded him a lot of himself and George; weird to see all of that energy and mischief in one body. And Robbie was so sweet and devoid of any hint of toughness or hostility - a bit like Alec, actually - that Fred sometimes feared for him. It was a good thing he and Michelle were far enough apart in age that they seldom played together. Which was also weird. It was like they were raising two only children. Having grown up smack in the middle of a litter of kids, it was disorienting.

Robbie's giggling died down fairly quickly. He was evidently still worn out from crying over the prank Michelle had played on him, and it was far past his naptime. Fred smiled down at him as he fell asleep in Fred's arms.

He was a lot like Alec, actually. Gentle, and sweet, and needing so much more protection than Fred could possibly give him. Although at least all Robbie had to be protected from so far was his older sister, and occasionally his parent's fights. Not bloody _Death Eaters._

Dismissing that thought, he got up and carried Robbie to his bed.

He came back into the kitchen and there was Anne, sitting at the kitchen table with her hand covering her eyes. The fragile peace Fred had found in Robbie's sleepy weight on his lap disappeared.

"Oh thank God. I've got a headache," said Anne, Fred's normal cue to bring her her headache potion. He tossed The Prophet onto the table instead.

"What's this?" asked Anne, taking the paper. Her eyebrows shot up. "Good Lord. That's Harry," she said, looking closer. "Bloody hell. When did this come out?"

"This morning," said Fred evenly.

"Has Harry seen it?"

"Yeah. He showed it to me. Thought I'd taken it."

Anne blinked. "Good Lord. That's... a little paranoid," she said, amused.

"Is it?"

She blinked again. "Did you?" She peered at him a little closer, frowning, then lifted a hand to his face. "What happened to your--"

"You bloody well know I didn't take it," Fred said evenly, moving his head back and ignoring her half-spoken question.

"What?"

"Anne."

She narrowed her eyes. "You think I did this?" she asked incredulously, looking back at the picture of Harry and Draco embracing on the cover of the Prophet. "How dare you--"

"He was wearing a NewFace amulet," Fred interrupted.

"The Aurors have the countercharm for that, Fred," Anne said scornfully. "You gave it to them yourself."

"Not the ones for the new line."

Anne blinked. "What?"

"He was wearing the amulets we haven't put on the market yet. And all our counter-charms in the lab are for the new versions. Not for the ones Aurors already have."

Anne's mouth dropped open.

"You _bitch_," said Fred softly. "You were going to lie to me."

Anne's eyes flashed with anger, and she raised in chin defiantly. "Oh don't act so surprised," she sneered. "Would you have told me the truth? If you'd done it?"

"_Why?_" Fred asked, striving to keep his cool.

Anne glared at him. "Ginny was the first person in your entire family other than George who was actually decent to me," she said grimly. "And I am _not_ going to let her son be brought up around the kind of filth I had to grow up with."

Fred pressed his lips together. "Look, I know it was rough for you but--"

"You have no fucking clue," she interrupted with a bitter laugh. "You were surrounded by people who were all working on the side of the precious Light, and you have no idea what it's like, being around that kind of poison. I won't allow it, not for Ginny's son!"

"It's not up to you - or me! I don't want him brought up around Malfoy either but-"

"I have had just about enough of you and your little clan's insufferable nobility," Anne said through gritted teeth. "Oh, we all care so much about Alec! We all want what's best for Alec--"

"We do!"

"And poor, dear Harry, he's one of the family - well he's shown exactly how much he thinks of the all-important family, hasn't he?"

"Anne--"

"And don't you _dare_ argue with me! You hypocrite, you _know_ I'm right!"

Fred pressed his lips together. Yes, he knew. He knew very well.

"You know I'm right and you're completely incapable of doing anything about it!" Anne said angrily.

"This wasn't the right thing to do!"

"And what are you doing? What have _any_ of you done? Your own brother's had Malfoy in his home, with his own kids. Had Malfoy's _son_ playing with his own boys. D'you want that?"

"That kid is not to blame for--"

"That kid! Is that kid more important to you than Alec? Than Ginny? Do you even remember what you swore to him the day he was born?"

Fred's jaw clenched as he glared at Anne, trying to push away the nightmare memories of that night. The shock of realizing their sister was dying; the desperation with which Hermione and the Healers tried to save her; the first sight of Alec paling before the ache of knowing that Ginny was really gone. The way it felt like there wasn't enough air in the room, wasn't any way to come to terms with the fact that Ginny would never see the tiny baby nursing at Fleur's breast.

"You fucking hypocrite," said Anne, her voice low. "You and George both, you say you loved her, you promised to be there for her son, and now you're betraying her memory. You might as well piss on her grave. She was a fighter, she hated Malfoy and all he stood for! She can't defend her son, so it's up to you! To us!"

"Anne, for fuck's sake, it's not that simple!"

"It is _very_ simple. The only problem is, you don't want to get your hands dirty, and you want to make nice. I take it our precious Widdle Hawwy got upset?"

"Fucking furious is more like it. Can't say I blame him - you know how he feels about publicity--"

"And he gave you that, didn't he?" Anne said, gesturing at Fred's jaw and laughing derisively. "Well let him try that shit on me!"

Fred shook his head angrily even as he admired her fire and spirit. Anne was beautiful when she got like this; like fireworks, but far more dangerous and unpredictable. Not for the first time, he briefly wondered what life would've been like if he'd chosen a wife like George's, someone who could be counted on to bring serenity and reason into difficult situations, instead of Anne, who continually forced him into the role of rational peacemaker. Not exactly his forte.

"In fact, let him try right now!" Anne headed for the Floo. "I'll tell him--"

"You are not going to tell him anything!" Fred said, grabbing Anne's arm.

"Fuck you!!" Anne spat, wrenching herself away, and started for the Floo again.

"Don't you dare, you _bitch_!" She stopped short and gaped at him. "You are not going to tell anybody. George knows, and Demelza will soon, but nobody else will know that it was you and not me. Nobody."

"I don't need your noble Gryffindor chivalry--"

"Fuck chivalry!" Fred snapped. "I won't put up with my mother shunning you; I'm not putting the kids through that."

"Your dear sainted mother can go fuck herself! Self-righteous old cow! If she's going to hold it against me that I'm trying to protect her grandson when the rest of you won't raise a finger, she can--"

"Mum?" Michelle's voice was frightened as she spoke from outside the kitchen door.

"Don't, we're not doing this," Fred said, anger and fear warring for dominance now.

Anne tossed her head back. "You bloody coward. Not doing what? Not going to face a few hard truths? Not going to--"

"Not going to leave our kids crying again!" Fred snapped.

"Dad, what--"

"Michelle, go to your room!"

"Protecting the kiddies, are you?" Anne sneered. "You'll protect ours from hearing their parents disagree, but it's all right to leave Ginny's son alone and not protect him from a Death Eater? From being taught all sorts of--"

"Mum--"

"Shut up, Michelle!" they both shouted, and Anne went on grimly, "Your Dad's being a bit of a prick right now--"

Fred quickly grabbed his wand and flicked it, taking Anne's wand away, casting a Mufliato spell on them and a Cheering Charm at Michelle, then Banishing both wands to a locked cupboard.

Anne spluttered, livid fury making her colour rise even higher. "You have no right!" she shrieked at him. "No bloody right!"

"D'you want her to have nightmares again? Do you remember the last time we had a fight?!"

Briefly he saw uncertainty on Anne's face, but she was too far gone to stop now, and Fred braced himself for the onslaught, thanking Merlin he'd thought to send their wands out of the room as Anne tore into him and dredged up every single fucking problem they'd ever had in their entire marriage and he had no idea if it was a Slytherin thing or a woman thing, but it was bloody unbelievable how she could remember and throw into his face everything, _everything_ he'd ever done wrong. Not just his failure to protect Alec, but his long hours at the shop, his overwhelming, loud, self-righteous family, his refusal to take on defence magic contracts that would make more money for the shop, insisting instead on concentrating mainly on the joke stuff he and George loved, and while she was at it she took a few swipes at his constantly putting his twin ahead of his wife--

"Oh for fuck's sake, Anne," he snapped, tired of biting his lip till it bled. "Don't bloody well start that shit again!"

"You wouldn't know loyalty to our family if it flew up and bit you in the arse--"

"I fucking well would," he retorted. "I said as much to George, while I was busy defending what _you did_ to him--"

"Why thank you, my most noble protector," she sneered and he had had enough.

This didn't even have anything to do with Harry or Malfoy any more, he was able to think in the brief space between one savage verbal attack and another, both of them holding little back as Anne ripped in to him over his mixed signals to their daughter - the unmistakable admiration he felt for her spirit making it difficult to discipline her - as well as his supposed neglect of their son, and he flung back at her his disgust at her amazing ability to hold on to every grudge and grievance, and her charming Slytherin dishonesty, and her constant whining about missing her Charms work, despite the fact that she'd agreed she'd leave her career on hold while the kids were little, and--

"Just because I'm not the home-loving saint your mother is," she sneered, "not a devoted little housewitch like the rest of your brothers' wives, they fucking well make me _sick_, the lot of them--"

"Well if my family's too much for you, why don't you go back to yours then, Anne? Oh I forgot - they're almost all still in Azkaban, aren't they?"

Anne's eyes widened slightly in real pain, and as she opened her mouth for a furious retort Fred brought himself up short.

_Fuck_, that had been over the line.

"All right, that's enough," he said tightly. "Going now."

Anne's eyes narrowed again. "Fine, get out, you fucking coward," she sneered. "And stay out!" she shouted as he moved to the Floo. He bit his lip to keep from lashing back, and stepped into the flames, calling out George's Floo address.

George looked up from the small aqua-blue boy wriggling on his lap and sighed as Fred stepped out of the Floo. He nodded at Demelza, who got up from the couch and picked up the little boy - Graham? Frank? Fred could never tell, and the blue colour didn't help - and started to head off with a small smile at Fred. She paused, frowning, and flicked her wand at him. Fred felt warmth on his face - healing charm, no doubt - as she headed off to her sons' nursery.

"D-didn't go well?" George said dryly.

"Went smashingly."

"Literally?"

"Didn't break anything this time," said Fred tightly, struggling to clear the anger coursing through him.

"Staying the n-night?"

"Surprised?" said Fred.

George simply clapped him on the back comfortingly. "Demelza'll s-send an owl t-to Anne," he said.

Fred nodded. Business as usual; whether she agreed with Anne or not, "Wives of twins need to stick together," Demelza always said, and maybe it was true. Fred even knew what she'd likely write, having seen her notes before:

_He's here, don't worry. We'll send him home in the morning. Hope you're doing all right. Love, D._

Funny how Anne had never had to send one of these owls to Demelza. For all he knew, Demelza might even wholly agree with Anne right now; she'd had more than a few things to say to George when this whole mess with Malfoy started, so many months ago. And yet somehow George never ended up sleeping on Fred's couch.

Fred sighed and ran a hand through his hair. This was just not on. Not any more. Their kids couldn't keep being exposed to this kind of shit. It wasn't healthy. It had been different, before kids - it had even been a bit exciting, in a way; for one thing, the make-up sex was incredible. But now...

There had to be some way through this. Some way to balance the needs of his marriage with the need to not push Alec and Harry away, while still protecting Alec from Malfoy...

Fucking Malfoys, he thought bitterly. Hurting Fred's family, business as usual. It wasn't enough that Lucius Fucking Malfoy had almost killed Ginny as a kid and almost destroyed George. It wasn't enough that the junior version had wrecked Bill's face, now he had to come in and hurt not just Harry's kid, but Fred's kids as well. Azkaban was too good for him, he thought grimly as he followed George into the kitchen.

And bloody hell, right now? Fred wished with all his heart that he _had_ taken the bloody picture.


	18. Feb 10: A Modest Proposal

**Author's Note:** OMG! Just realized I never did post this final Ember to Ember DVD Extra on here, even though it was written almost a year ago. I'm a complete _twit_ sometimes.

Anyway. This is an Ember to Ember DVD Extra for coffeejunkii, nimue_8, and Love2Love. It takes place after after the accident in Chapter 10, and shortly after the boys have finally grabbed a clue and gone back together (DVD Extra).

Thanks so much to tree00faery and fish_echo for wonderful, extensive beta :) :) :)

**February 10, 2008**

"But what's it mean, Daddy?" Alec asked.

"Nothing, little man," said Harry dismissively. "It's just some nasty words."

"It's not nothing," Ben grumbled from his small daybed, glaring at the vandalized living room window. "Otherwise you wouldn't be calling Alec's uncle."

Alec trotted over to Ben's daybed and plopped down next to him. "Your daddy's not so worried," he said, reaching over to pat Ben comfortingly and only just missed accidentally hitting him when Harry hastily caught his hand.

"Quit it!" Ben whined.

"Alec, please be careful," Harry said tiredly. "You know you're not used to how far away things look with your new glasses. You don't want to hurt Ben by accident."

"You've already hit me loads of times!" Ben said.

"Ben, he's only trying to help," said Kara.

"Ben's awful grumpy, isn't he, Daddy?" Alec said in what he probably thought was a discreet whisper.

"Everybody's a little grumpy, Alec."

"Is that because of the nasty things people are doing to Draco?" Alec asked.

"They're just stupid words, that's all," said Harry, and flicked his wand at the curtains. _Muggles beware: A Death Eatter lives here!_ was seared into everyone's mind anyway.

"When'll Bill be here?" Kara asked.

"Not sure," said Harry. "Half an hour, maybe."

Draco tsked. "There was no need to call him," he muttered irately. "It's plain straightforward vandalism. Obviously they used magic or a broom to get up here to write it, but you're a curse-breaker for Merlin's sake, if you didn't find anything--"

"I know," Harry said. "I just... I just want a second opinion. And Bill doesn't mind."

"Dad, it's dark in here," Ben whined, and Kara rolled her eyes and turned on the light.

"It's so we don't have to look at the window, is all--" Alec began.

"Well it's dark with the curtains closed!"

"I can see fine."

"That's because you have glasses on."

"Ben, come on," said Draco impatiently. "We've told you, Alec's glasses don't help him see better indoors, like his uncle George's do. They help him see things that would be fuzzy otherwise, like my glasses."

"But I want glasses too!" Ben whined. Harry put a hand on Draco's shoulder, earnestly pitying him and Kara for having to deal with Ben like this full-time. "How come Alec gets glasses and I don't?"

"You weren't as badly hurt, Ben," Harry said gently.

"I was in the hospital loads longer."

"That's only because the treatments for Alec could be done at home and yours couldn't."

"But I hated the hospital! And I hate being in bed almost all the time!" Ben started to cry noisily and Harry suppressed the urge to throttle him.

He's little, he told himself for the fortieth time. He's uncomfortable. He's an extremely high-energy kid, and there's nowhere for all of that energy to go.

And it can't help that he can probably feel how upset we all are over... all of this. It can't help that his home is being vandalized and we're all starting to fear for his safety, and his dad's.

Three incidents at Draco's flat so far, in the form of broken windows and ugly words scrawled on the door. Plus at least a dozen nasty letters and three Howlers, two at the hospital and one at home. And now this rubbish on his window; apparently the vandals hadn't been able to get past the ward Harry had put on Draco's door.

"I know," said Kara brightly. "Why don't we all sing until Bill gets here? What's the new song in your London choir, Alec? Jerusalem? You two sing the verses and Draco and I will join in the chorus. All right?"

Ben scowled at her, but Alec and Draco ignored him and they all started to sing. Harry blew out his breath and went to sit with Ben, taking out _The Golden Harp's Thief_ to read to him, for what felt like the twelfth time in an hour.

**ooo000ooo**

"No magic, just words," Bill confirmed cheerfully after carefully examining the window.

"You're sure?" Harry asked, feeling the knot in his stomach loosen slightly. He glanced back as the boys burst into yet another argument over Lego pieces, turning back to Bill as Kara moved back to adjudicate.

Bill chuckled. "Harry, even if they wanted to, I very much doubt vandals who spell Death Eater with two t's could cast anything more complex than a Sneezing Hex."

"That's worse, sometimes," Harry pointed out. "If they fu- if they mess up whatever hex they're trying to cast, and--"

Bill clapped him on the back. "There's nothing magical there," he said. "I can guarantee you that. Whoever it is may not know how to spell, but they were smart enough to know their magic could be traced, if they used it. What with the papers going on and on about your curse-breaking prowess."

Harry nodded, relieved. Draco cleared his throat. "I... I appreciate you coming here," he said stiffly.

"Not a problem," said Bill, turning to Draco. "And I'm glad you called me. Gives me a chance to ask again about the Secrecy Charm on your job."

Harry winced as Draco's jaw set. "I already told you. I work in a Muggle school--"

"A Muggle school that's easy to find. At least one article has mentioned that you're a music teacher in a Dublin college. We can't set wards over the entire campus. If I just put your particular workplace under Secrecy, nobody who hasn't already looked it up will be able to find it."

"I make business connections at concerts. What do I do if somebody sees me conducting, asks a friend how they can get in contact with me, and the friend can't tell them? Musicians and directors work through word of mouth, you know, especially in a small scene like Dublin."

"_Now_ he calls it a small scene," said Kara, rolling her eyes. "When I'm tryin' to tell him we need to move out of here, he's--"

"Not right now, Kara," Harry murmured.

"You'll just have to hope they come speak to you directly," Bill said. "Unless you'd rather just hope nobody with a grudge comes up and waves a wand at you in the middle of one of your classes." Draco crossed his arms, his lips pressed together stubbornly. "And there's the safety of your students to think of as well."

"Harry, read me another book!" Ben whined.

"Not now, Ben, please," Harry said gently. "Your Mum and Dad and Uncle Bill and I have to talk this over, right?

"But I'm bored!"

"Draco, I dinna think you have much choice--" Kara began, and Draco scowled at her.

"_Later,_" he said shortly. "I'll think about it."

Bill nodded calmly. "Why don't I begin the set-up now? I can weave a spell that only comes into effect when you decide to use it. Harry'd be your Secret Keeper?" Draco nodded. "I brought the incantation book, just in case, but we'll all have to learn and practice the spell for a bit before we can cast it. Boys," he said, turning to Ben and Alec, "we need to work to make Draco's work safe for a bit, all right? Here." He handed Ben a box filled with small coloured balls and tiny figures climbing over them. "This is from my brothers' joke shop. Why don't you and Alec try to make it work?"

"But I can't see it--" said Alec.

"And I don't want to play with it," whined Ben, "it'll make me tired."

"Do wizards have circus troupes?" Kara muttered irritably as Bill patiently explained the toy to the little boys.

"Yes, why?" asked Draco.

"So we can sell Ben to them," she said.

"Wouldn't fetch much of a price right now," Draco pointed out.

"Fine, we'll pay them, then." Kara sighed, then moved closer to the boys and took the toy. "All right, I canna help with... whatever it is ye're all going to do, so why don't I take the little darlins to Ben's room to play for a spell?" She rubbed her forehead. "Lucky, lucky me." She gave the window one last, troubled, look, before ushering the little boys down the hall to Ben's room.

It wasn't that difficult a spell, thought Harry as he and Bill and Draco went over the words and practiced the incantation. Just tedious. And niggly. It didn't help that they had to be particularly careful that their magic didn't spill over and cause havoc to the Muggle parts of Draco's flat. Or that, from the frequent whines floating down the hall, it was evident that Kara's attempts to keep Ben and Alec cheerful and busy with the Wheezes toy wasn't going well at all.

Finally they were done.

"Right. That's that then. Now I'll just go over the wards Harry's made here - the _Deflecto_ you cast on the door is good for the short-term, but it's not a good idea as a more permanent thing."

"Why's that?" Draco asked Harry. "I told you, you could cast whatever you wanted--"

"Not generally a good idea to cast the more complex charms on a place that's your own, or as good as," said Bill. "They're too familiar to you; you're less likely to think of them as an attacker would. Besides, it's a bit difficult when you're trying to ward two places with the same people allowed into both of them; it's too easy to get mixed up with the barakas of the aural exceptions and end up casting a reflection shield that's too wide or has a primary/primal threshold energy that never mind," he broke off with a laugh at Draco's pained look. "Sorry, turned into Percy there for a moment. Anyway, trust me, Cursebreaker Credo: never ward your own place if you can help it. Or two places with the same people in them."

"You broke it!" Ben's indignant voice floated down the hallway.

"Did not!"

"I think it's supposed to do that, Ben," said Kara. "Let's go see if your dads and Bill are done, all right?"

"Look, you know - my place is warded to hell and back," said Harry. "You can both stay there for a while--"

"You've got your own life to handle right now--"

"It wouldn't be a problem--"

"It's not a permanent solution," said Draco, and Harry's lips pressed together.

"Don't start talking about permanent solutions," he said tightly as the boys and Kara came back into the room.

"What?" Draco asked, irritably. "You don't want a permanent solution?"

"No, bloody hell."

"What?"

"Not the kind you've come up with before."

"What are you talking about?" said Draco, baffled. Kara rolled her eyes.

"Maybe this is something you two need to discuss on your own," said Bill neutrally.

"What?"

"Kara, let's see if I can help you with that toy." Bill bundled Kara and the boys all back to Ben's room.

"All right, what the hell are you talking about?" demanded Draco as soon as they were alone.

"I'm talking about you making decisions without me again. I can't - you--" Harry broke off, realizing his anger at Draco was totally out of proportion, but still incensed at Draco's baffled expression.

"What the devil--" Draco broke off and Harry could almost see the light bulb go off in his head. "You think - you think I'm talking about leaving you? Again?" Draco said, incredulous.

Harry flushed. "Listen, you bastard, you already left once! How can I trust you when--"

"I'm not leaving you! God, you're impossible." Draco shook his head in disbelief. "Look, I came back, all right? Just two days ago. Why would I--"

"You came back at Alec's bedside, in the middle of - I'm not putting him through that kind of shite again, all right? If you're going to walk out again, just bloody well do it!"

Draco's eyes narrowed. "I am not walking out! You suspicious prick!"

Harry glared at him.

"Why would I walk out on you again? There'd be no point, the entire Wizarding world already knows about--"

"Oh good. So you would, if there was a point?"

"No! That's not what I--" Draco stopped himself with effort. He took a deep breath. "Right. This isn't going well. Maybe we need to back off - and no, I'm not _leaving_, so you don't have to worry about what to say to Alec. Or Ben. I'm just..." he paused and then spoke slowly, choosing his words carefully. "I am just bloody well frustrated, and trying to figure out what the fuck to do next. Is that allowed?"

"Fine," Harry bit out. He turned back to the wall and tried to remember what he and Bill had been about to do with the current wards - and was it a four-element shield he had done, or was it...

Kara poked her head in. "Oh!" she said, coming back into the room, followed by Bill and the boys. "Bill was right, then. He said you'd be done by now. By the way, do either of you know what one of these does?" she asked, showing Harry and Draco an Extendable Ear. "Bill wouldn't tell me."

"Never seen one," said Harry, and gave Bill a dark look which Bill returned blandly.

"I was thinking, we should also add Howler wards," said Bill. "And casting reflecting spells at both places might be good too."

"We can cast them on my place," said Harry. "Not Draco's."

"Why not?"

"Parole," Harry said shortly. "No harmful hexes."

Bill's eyebrows went up. "They'd only be as harmful as whatever the hexer tried to cast on Draco," he pointed out.

"Doesn't matter," Draco said. "I'll ask my parole officer, but I don't think so."

"But I don't _want_ to go back to bed!" whined Ben, glaring at Alec. "Stop telling me what to do! You're not me Mam!" Harry and Draco exchanged a look of impatience, and he felt a small glow at the slight smile they shared before turning back to Bill.

"Maybe also cast something to catch an image of whoever's doing something to your place?" asked Bill.

"Yeah, may as well. There are a few Muggle security cams in the building already, but they're not--"

"Right, Muggle security cams." Bill chewed on his lip absently. "Bugger. That'll make it a _hell_ of a job; those really disrupt protection spells."

Bill and Harry stared at each other, trying to figure it out.

"We could do what we did for that wand that's kept at the Tower of London..." Bill began.

"No, that was a huge bother, and it kept shorting out every time a Muggle took a picture nearby."

"That's because the Crown Jewels were kept in the same wing," Bill said. "I told Garpek that it wouldn't work."

"Garpek?"

"Yes." Bill shuddered. "Not my favourite moment with him. Fleur complained about the stench for weeks." He glanced around the living room. "We can cast a Charm in that corner, away from the telly and--"

"Won't that interfere?" Draco gestured towards his keyboard.

"Since when do pianos interfere with magic?" said Bill.

"That's an electronic piano."

Bill's eyes widened and for a moment his resemblance to Arthur was quite pronounced. "Really? With electricity and everything? What for?"

Draco smiled slightly. "It makes it sound like different instruments." Bill gazed at the keyboard in fascination.

Harry ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. "Yeah. Adds a whole new set of troubles when it's a mostly Muggle building, doesn't it?" He blew out his breath. "This wouldn't be a problem if he was living with me, you know," he muttered irritably.

"Is that an observation or a proposal, lad?" Kara said archly.

"What?" Harry said, then his brain caught up to him. "Oh - no, no, just an observation--" and Draco's eyes had gone blank.

"What's a twat, Daddy?" Alec piped up. There was a muffled squeak from Kara. "Kara wouldn't tell me before."

"It's a word Kara shouldn't use around you boys," Draco said, and the glare he directed towards her effectively covered any other reaction to what Harry had just said. And, conveniently, drew his attention away from Harry long enough for Harry to think over his own words as he and Bill tried to figure out where to put the keyboard.

Bill was busily flipping through a ward charm text, Kara had taken the boys to the kitchen for sweets, and Draco was staring at his keyboard, trying to figure out where to put it, when Harry approached him quietly and made himself speak before dwelling on all the reasons he probably shouldn't. "About what I said back there." Draco's body became absolutely still. "You know... Kara wants to move to London. Ben and Alec are going to require a lot of care. I'm worried about you. I know it's soon, but I'm offering."

And there it was, out in the open, and Harry's stomach started to feel a bit queasy.

"I have a life here," Draco said quietly, but there was something in his tone that... it wasn't a rejection.

"It's not doing well."

Draco fiddled with his watch. "Kara... Kara said there's a possible position at the Royal College opening soon."

Harry's stomach flipped over. "Seriously?"

"But it... it would be... difficult," Draco said hesitantly. "In the middle of everything going on..."

Harry nodded. "I know. But it would also make life a lot easier in a lot of ways." He looked down at the floor. "And I wouldn't mind the difficulty."

"I don't know, your flat's really not... it's a bit compact."

"It's a wizarding building. Might support expansion spells. And if it doesn't, I'd be willing to move."

"Move where, Daddy?" Alec's small voice piped up behind them, and Harry started. He and Draco glanced at each other in alarm. When had the boys come in? "Who's moving?" Alec repeated.

"Nobody, Alec," Draco said quickly. "We're just talking."

Harry glanced at Bill, whose eyes had widened slightly. Bill cleared his throat. "It would make warding easier," he said neutrally.

"Make a lot of things easier," said Kara, smirking.

"You mean they could come live with us?!" Alec said, incredulous, his eyes lighting up, and Harry's heart skipped a beat at the hope and joy flooding his son's face.

"What?" Ben's face lit up too, his ongoing squabbles with Alec totally forgotten. "We could live at Alec's house? That's _brilliant!_ And--"

"Ben could live there and he could be in my room! And it would be just like--"

And now Draco was looking cornered and Harry figured he probably looked exactly the same, and they all desperately needed to backpedal.

"Erm, boys, nobody's making any definite plans yet," Bill said hastily, then gave Kara a look. "Why don't we take the boys to an ice cream shop?" Kara frowned. "I know of one at Brigid's Cross that--"

"But Ben's no' supposed to--" said Kara.

"He'll be fine, the Healer said he could go out for short excursions. I even have amulets on me," he said, taking three of them out of his pocket.

"But--"

"It'll be good for him to get outside for a bit," Bill continued, taking Kara's arm and flicking his wand around the flat, Summoning the children's outdoor things with admirable speed.

"But--"

"By which I mean this isn't something they can decide with all of us hanging on their every word," he said firmly, picking up Ben.

"It's no' like they're the only ones affected--" Kara was still saying as Bill herded them all out of the door.

And then Harry and Draco were alone in the flat, with nothing but silence between them, and damn it, this was _not_ how a discussion about something this important was supposed to begin.

"It... it would make sense," Harry said nervously. He swallowed and tried for a more casual tone. "For warding, at least." Ugh, too casual. This was about making a major life change, not choosing a new pair of socks.

"It's not just wards I have to worry about, though," said Draco. "I'd have to get a new job, in the middle of Ben's health not being good, in the middle of all of this..." he gestured at his window.

"You don't have to - I mean, you could both stay with us. Until - until you found a job..." Damn, that was probably also the wrong thing to say. Draco was fiercely proud of having gone from pampered rich boy, to parolee left with barely enough inheritance to eke out a living by the wizarding world, to financially independent member of the Muggle world. And now Harry was offering to make him a kept man. Nicely done.

"I want to work," said Draco quietly.

"I know. And you should. But you wouldn't have to right away."

"Moving's a rather large undertaking."

"You wouldn't have to move right away. You could both just stay in my flat while we look for a bigger place." Draco bit his lip uncertainly and Harry tentatively reached out to him, relieved when Draco absently took his hand and laced their fingers together. "I just don't want you both in danger."

"But..."

"Look, if you move in with me, some of the people who hate you will probably change their minds, just because you're connected to me. God knows I hate the stupid Boy Who Lived shit most of the time; at least let me use it for something good for once."

"We're already connected," said Draco quietly. "And it looks like some people have just decided to hate you right along with me, judging from the letters to _The Prophet_. You don't think it'll get worse if we move in together?"

"'Possibly dating' isn't the same as living together. And I'm not particularly worried about the people who hate me because of you."

"You could be targeted too. You and Alec."

"Draco, I'm a cursebreaker. My place is already Unplottable and under a goblin form of Secrecy as part of my contract with Gringott's. And I've got Bill - hell, the entire Weasley family - to help protect me if I need them to." Draco stared at him. "They'd do it for you too."

"The kids aren't getting along all that well..."

"The kids would be fine. You know that. Right now neither of them's exactly a barrel of laughs. They get along fine when they're healthy."

Draco looked away.

Bloody hell, this was not the way he'd wanted this discussion to go. He hadn't thought about taking this step before - much - but when he had, he'd thought about taking Draco to a nice restaurant, slipping the idea of moving in together into the conversation, seeing how it went, giving themselves some sort of vague timeline for making the decision... Something slow. And pleasant, and romantic.

Then again, with kids in the picture, there was really no such thing as romance any more.

Draco cleared his throat. "This is... not the way I'd hoped to ever move in with anybody," he said quietly, and Harry winced in sympathy.

"Things don't always work out the way we picture them," he pointed out. "I mean... Ginny and I hadn't planned on our wedding being the way it was, but... it was still good." He thought briefly of the frantic last-minute preparations, the considerably shorter guest list than Molly had wanted for her only daughter's marriage, the slight bulge that was Alec in Ginny's middle. "It didn't make our marriage any less valid just because we didn't do it the way we'd planned." Harry cleared his throat, noting that the ache of his too-short marriage was no longer as sharp, somehow, as it had once been. "It was good while we were together. I think it could've been very good in the long run."

Draco touched his arm comfortingly, and they gazed at each other in silence for a few moments. "I just think maybe this isn't something to decide so quickly," he said quietly. "Nothing bad's actually happened--"

"Yet."

"Fair enough. It just seems a bit of a drastic reaction."

"Maybe." Harry swallowed. "Think about it, though?"

"Yeah. You too."

"I will."

They gazed at each other uncertainly.

"Should... erm, the keyboard could be set up near the blue sofa, I think," said Draco, and Harry nodded, hastily moving to help him pick it up.

**ooo000ooo**

"Pass the butter, please," said Percy, and Harry floated over the butter dish, almost crashing it into Percy's face. He gave Percy an apologetic glance and reminded himself to pay attention.

He was a lot more alert today, though. Thank Merlin. After over a week of utter exhaustion, it was nice to feel weary but coherent. Maybe the post-accident fog was finally lifting.

How much of that had to do with Draco being back? He pondered the question once more as he dug into his kidney pie. It hadn't been easy, being around the Weasleys the day after George and Molly and Percy had walked in on him and Draco... reconciling. He'd had the uncomfortable sense that he'd let them down - well, most of them, anyway, even though nobody had said a word to that effect. Oddly, Ron and Hermione and George had been openly happy for him. Bill had seemed fairly non-judgmental about it, and Fred... well, Fred was unreadable these days.

He suppressed a sigh. Funny how, months later, he still mourned the loss of Fred's friendship. But after Fred had gone to the papers and exposed Draco to the public, there was no coming back from a betrayal like that. Besides, Fred had never done anything to make up for it, either. No apology, nothing. Nothing but a - by now irrelevant - promise to not go to the press again.

Although, if Fred had talked to Draco, urged him to go back to Harry and apologized for his actions... Harry supposed anything was possible.

"--hardly appropriate for a shop on Diagon Alley, don't you think?" Molly was saying, and George and Fred laughed.

"Mum," Fred laughed, "it's not like we've got it in the front room."

Fred, and the other Weasleys, had accepted Draco being back, for now at least. How thrilled would they all be, though, if they found out that he and Draco were thinking of moving in together?

"They'll get used to it," Bill had said philosophically as he and Harry had finished the warding, after Kara had gone home. "You know how far along some people have come. And you've dealt with the ones who aren't going to change their minds. I don't really see this as all that different, to be honest."

Harry had raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"All right, yeah, it's different," Bill admitted. "But remember, this is the same family that accepted Fleur... sort of. And accepted Percy coming back. And me having long hair and an earring, and Charlie shacking up with his dragons. It'll work out. Eventually."

He rubbed his forehead tiredly. Why was he worrying about the Weasleys' reaction? He didn't even know how _he_ felt about it.

Well, yes, he knew exactly how he felt about it.

He wanted it, more than he'd thought possible. It hadn't occurred to him much, before, but now that it had, he wanted it with all his heart. Draco and Ben, living with him and Alec, the four of them forming a real family together. A home for all of them. And not just for the purpose of helping to keep Draco and Ben safe, but to give himself and Alec what he had wanted for Alec when he and Ginny were expecting him. What both Alec and Ben deserved.

It wasn't even that what they had at the moment was necessarily lacking anything; he and Alec were happy together, and he knew Draco and Ben and Kara worked better as a family unit than many supposedly intact nuclear families. But they could have more than that. They could have a _family_. What Harry had never really had. He could have a partner, again, somebody with whom to share the joys and pains of raising his child - his children...

He could have Draco in his life, for good, going to bed with him every night, waking up with him every morning, making Harry feel so alive, making him feel anything was possible--

But would that bugger up the family that Alec already had?

"... and if Ben's here he'll maybe go to my school!" Alec said to Ron, right into an unfortunately timed lull in the general hubbub.

Harry felt his heart sink at the profound silence that followed Alec's happy words.

"What?!" said Percy blankly.

"You're joking," said Fred, staring at Harry.

"Are you serious, mate?" asked Ron.

Harry glanced around at the stunned expressions of everyone around the table, and met Bill's steady gaze. They'll get used to it, Bill had said.

"It... erm." He cleared his throat and made his voice sound casual. "It's just that it's... I'd feel better about his safety," he said. "And Ben's."

"Oh. Yes, of course," said Molly, nodding a little too enthusiastically.

"It would make more sense from a security perspective," said Bill. "And Alec, I think this was supposed to be something that the grown-ups were going to decide in a bit. It's a big thing, moving in with somebody."

"For how long would this be?" asked Percy grimly. "Until the furor dies down?"

Alec's green eyes went wide and he turned to Harry. "You mean... it wouldn't be forever?"

There was another ringing silence.

"Because the furor won't die down, you know," Percy said, two spots of colour appearing on his cheeks. "And you're just fooling yourself if you tell yourself that it's..." and Harry lost track of what Percy was saying as he watched Fred's lips press together, and Fred glance away from them both.

"I know," he said, cutting off Percy. "And if we do... it won't be just for now. I think. I hope." Harry swallowed hard and made himself straighten up and face them all. "It's not just for safety," he said firmly. He turned to Alec. "And it wouldn't be temporary, Alec. That's why it's a hard decision to make."

Percy's mouth dropped open. Fred looked resigned.

"Oh bloody buggering--" Anne bit off a curse as an explosion of multicoloured sparkles suddenly flew off her daughter's head and a loud MOO echoed around the room, and the entire table turned at once to deal with the resultant chaos among all of the children and adults and glasses and plates upended. Harry reflected, as he tried to shield Alec from the random sparkles and bits of pudding flying about, that this was probably the first time he'd ever been grateful to Michelle for causing a commotion at a Weasley dinner.

Finally the sparks were under control, the dishes returned to their places, Michelle's mooing toned down to a bearable volume, and the family returned to their pre-bombshell conversations, a little more loudly than before.

Harry checked his watch as the meal ended, and his heart gave a dull thud. Seven o'clock, Draco's regular e-mail-checking time.

He took a calming breath and straightened himself up, levitated a few of the dirty dishes towards the kitchen, and waited for Arthur to finish casting washing up spells before clearing his throat.

"Yes, Harry?"

"Could I use your shed for a few minutes?"

"My shed?" Arthur looked momentarily puzzled, then his face brightened. "D'you mean for the Muggle e-owls that Hermione set up for us?"

"E-mail. Yeah, I just need to check my account."

Arthur gave him a measured look. "Yes, of course. You know how to get in."

He nodded, keeping himself calm as he walked to the shed.

Living together. Waking up together, getting in each other's space. What he'd had with Ginny, with all the joy and frustration, the big and the little - cluttering up each other's washroom counters, casually chatting whenever they wanted, taking each other's presence for granted. Arguments and reconciliations and cooking together and getting Draco's coffee every morning. Draco's music intermingling with Alec's, Ben's art projects strewn about their home. The eventual death of ardent, exciting, unpredictable romance, replaced with comfortable warmth.

God, he and Ginny had barely had a chance to get there. And they were such different people, Ginny and Draco, but they each had brought so much to Harry's life, and each done so much to make him feel complete, and...

"Just answer yes or no," he'd told Draco as they left his flat. "If it's no, I won't bring it up again, I promise."

He entered the shed and took the e-mail parchment and quill off the shed wall, waved his wand and murmured _Elecstriges_. Spidery writing appeared along the top of the page.

_Name?_ the writing asked, and he wrote _._

_You have one Muggle Owl Post Message. Open?_

He waved his wand at the parchment, feeling a little silly as he always did as he said "Click!"

This was ridiculous. Draco might not even have had time to check his e-mail yet. And Harry's own e-mail to him had been rather... bugger, it sounded so needy. _Did you think about it?_ as if this was something you could think about and decide in just a few hours.

He braced himself for no message, or for a message telling Harry to back off and give Draco more time. Or one turning him down.

And there it was. Draco's e-mail address was slowly appearing in the parchment's thin, slanted script, and Harry's stomach dropped and his knees felt weak as he leaned against the wall of the shed, a shocked and dazed grin spreading across his face as Draco's message wrote itself onto the parchment.

"Harry?"

Harry turned, startled, as Ron peered in to the shed.

"You all right?"

"Yeah," Harry said. "Yeah." He gave a rather shaky laugh.

"What happened?"

"Draco. He. Erm." Harry shook his head, reaching for calm, reminding himself that this was a serious thing and there could be all sorts of repercussions and he had responsibilities and, "He agreed," he blurted. "To move in together."

Ron's eyes widened, and he blinked a few times. He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it. "That's... that great, Harry. I'm happy for you." His voice was a bit strained, and Harry nodded but couldn't help wishing Ron had stayed out of the shed and allowed him a few moments to just feel good about this. He turned back to the parchment, trying to figure out what to reply. Then Ron put a hesitant hand on Harry's shoulder, and Harry looked at him, startled.

"D'you know where he is right now?"

Harry blinked. "Erm. At home, most likely."

Ron nodded. "You should, erm... you should go to him." Harry's eyebrows went up. "Give you both a bit of time to just... be happy, before the rest of us come raining on your parade." Ron nodded at an upright freezer in the corner of the shed. "Go on, I'll cover for you. That freezer's actually a weird unlicensed Floo; Dad confiscated it last year." He took the parchment from Harry, gave Harry a small smile, and nodded at a breadbox next to the freezer. "Floo powder's in there. I'm happy for you, mate. Really."

Harry nodded, and opened the freezer door, feeling a bit foolish as he took a handful of the powder. He glanced back at Ron, a grin coming back to his face as he called out Draco's Floo address. And the last thing he saw as the green flames whirled him away was the parchment in Ron's hand, with its single message from Draco.

_I did._

_Yes._

**ooo000ooo**

The request was for:

**coffeejunkii****:** i'd love to see the scene in which Harry and Draco make the decision to move in together :)

**nimue_8****:** Also, the interaction between Draco and Alec (and Harry and Ben as well!) as the kids are on the mend. How Draco being there and encouraging the kid helps Harry. (A/N: Not sure how much encouraging Draco was doing, but they were interacting... ;) )

**Love2Love:** Similarily, the reaction of the Weasley's when they announce they're back together, and when they decide to move in together...


End file.
